Physical uplink control channel design for discrete fourier transform-spread-orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) waveforms

ABSTRACT

Various embodiments herein provide physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) designs for discrete Fourier transform-spread-orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (DFT-s-OFDM) waveforms for systems operating above the 52.6 GHz carrier frequency. Some embodiments of the present disclosure may be directed to phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS) design for PUCCH with carrier frequencies above 52.6 GHz. Other embodiments may be disclosed and/or claimed.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/941,371, which was filed Nov. 27, 2019; thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD

Embodiments relate generally to the technical field of wirelesscommunications.

BACKGROUND

Among other things, embodiments of the present disclosure provide PUCCHdesigns for DFT-s-OFDM waveforms for systems operating above the 52.6GHz carrier frequency. Some embodiments of the present disclosure may bedirected to PT-RS design for PUCCH with carrier frequencies above 52.6GHz.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will be readily understood by the following detaileddescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. To facilitatethis description, like reference numerals designate like structuralelements. Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not by wayof limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of NR PUCCH with short and long durationsin a UL data slot in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of multiplexing DMRS and UCI in a TDMmanner, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of multiplexing DMRS and UCI in a TDMmanner prior to DFT operation, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example of a uniformly-distributed PT-RS pattern,in accordance with various embodiments.

FIGS. 4B, 4C, and 4D illustrate examples of operation flow/algorithmicstructures in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example architecture of a system of a network, inaccordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 6A illustrates an example of infrastructure equipment in accordancewith various embodiments.

FIG. 6B illustrates an example of a computer platform in accordance withvarious embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates example components of baseband circuitry and radiofront end modules in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someexample embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readableor computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identifythe same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposesof explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth suchas particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects ofvarious embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the variousaspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examplesthat depart from these specific details. In certain instances,descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted soas not to obscure the description of the various embodiments withunnecessary detail. For the purposes of the present document, the phrase“A or B” means (A), (B), or (A and B).

Mobile communication has evolved significantly from early voice systemsto today's highly sophisticated integrated communication platforms. Thenext generation wireless communication system known as fifth generation(5G), or new radio (NR), will provide access to information and sharingof data anywhere, anytime by various users and applications. NR isexpected to be a unified network/system that targets to meet vastlydifferent and sometime conflicting performance dimensions and services.Such diverse multi-dimensional requirements are driven by differentservices and applications. In general, NR will evolve based on 3GPPLTE-Advanced with additional potential new Radio Access Technologies(RATs) to enrich peoples' lives with better, simpler, and more seamlesswireless connectivity solutions. NR will thus help to deliver fast, richcontent and services.

FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a NR physical uplink control channel(NR PUCCH) with short and long durations within an uplink (UL) dataslot. For NR PUCCH with a short duration, NR PUCCH and PUSCH aremultiplexed in a time division multiplexing (TDM) manner, which can betargeted for low latency applications. For NR PUCCH with long durations,multiple OFDM symbols can be allocated for NR PUCCH to improve linkbudgets and uplink coverage for control channels. More specifically, forUL data slots, NR PUCCH and PUSCH can be multiplexed in a frequencydivision multiplexing (FDM) fashion. Note that in FIG. 1 , in order toaccommodate the DL to UL and UL to DL switching time and round-trippropagation delay, a guard period (GP) is inserted between the NRphysical downlink control channel (NR PDCCH) and NR physical uplinkshared channel (NR PUSCH) or NR physical uplink control channel (NRPUCCH) in cases when NR PUSCH and NR PUCCH is multiplexed in the FDMmanner.

In NR, short PUCCH (PUCCH format 0 and 2) can span 1 or 2 symbols andlong PUCCH (PUCCH format 1, 3 and 4) can span from 4 to 14 symbolswithin a slot. Further, long PUCCH may span multiple slots to furtherenhance the coverage. In addition, for a given UE, two short PUCCHs aswell as short PUCCH and long PUCCH can be multiplexed in a TDM manner ina same slot.

Note that uplink control information can be carried by PUCCH or PUSCH.In particular, UCI may include a scheduling request (SR), hybridautomatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback, channelstate information (CSI) report, e.g., channel quality indicator (CQI),pre-coding matrix indicator (PMI), CSI resource indicator (CRI) and rankindicator (RI) and/or beam related information (e.g., L1-RSRP (layer1-reference signal received power)).

In NR Release 15, system design is targeted for carrier frequencies upto 52.6 GHz with a waveform choice of cyclic prefix-orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) for DL and UL and,additionally, Discrete Fourier Transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) forUL. However, for carrier frequencies above 52.6 GHz, it is envisionedthat a single carrier based waveform is needed in order to handle issuesincluding low power amplifier (PA) efficiency and large phase noise.

For PUCCH in Rel-15, PUCCH format 2 was designed based on CP-OFDMwaveform. If DFT-s-OFDM waveform is supported for both DL and UL forsystem operating above the 52.6 GHz carrier frequency, certain designchange needs to be considered for PUCCH format 2.

Further, given that for above the 52.6 GHz carrier frequency, phasenoise may become a dominate factor, it is important to compensate thephase noise also for PUCCH transmission in order to ensure decentperformance, especially when considering that smaller subcarrier spacingis used for PUCCH transmission. In this regard, phase tracking referencesignal (PT-RS) can be inserted in the transmission of PUCCH.

Among other things, embodiments of the present disclosure provide PUCCHdesigns for DFT-s-OFDM waveforms for systems operating above the 52.6GHz carrier frequency. Some embodiments of the present disclosure may bedirected to PT-RS design for PUCCH with carrier frequencies above 52.6GHz.

PUCCH Design for DFT-s-OFDM Waveform for Above 52.6 GHz CarrierFrequency

As mentioned above, in NR Release 15, system design is targeted forcarrier frequencies up to 52.6 GHz with a waveform choice of cyclicprefix-orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) for DL andUL, and additionally, Discrete Fourier Transform-spread-OFDM(DFT-s-OFDM) for UL. However, for carrier frequencies above 52.6 GHz, itis envisioned that single carrier based waveform is needed in order tohandle issues including low power amplifier (PA) efficiency and largephase noise.

For PUCCH in Rel-15, PUCCH format 2 was designed based on CP-OFDMwaveform. If DFT-s-OFDM waveform is supported for both DL and UL forsystem operating above 52.6 GHz carrier frequency, certain design changeneeds to be considered for PUCCH.

Embodiments of PUCCH design for DFT-s-OFDM waveform for above 52.6 GHzcarrier frequency are provided as follows:

In one embodiment, demodulation reference signal (DMRS) and uplinkcontrol information (UCI) are multiplexed in a time divisionmultiplexing (TDM) manner. Further, to reduce decoding latency of PUCCH,DMRS with 1 symbol duration can be allocated before UCI transmission.

In addition, DFT operation is applied for the transmission of UCI. DMRSand UCI occupy the same resource in frequency domain so as to allow gNBto estimate the channel based on DMRS. UCI may span 1 or 2 symbols.

To further reduce the PAPR for PUCCH transmission, π/2 BPSK can be usedfor the modulation of PUCCH transmission with DFT-s-OFDM waveform. Notethat the DMRS sequence for the transmission of PUCCH format 3 in Rel-15or Rel-16 can be applied for the DMRS associated with the new PUCCHformat as mentioned above.

FIG. 2 illustrates one example of multiplexing DMRS and UCI in a TDMmanner. In this example, DMRS is located before UCI symbols. Inaddition, DFT is applied for the transmission of UCI. Although as shownin the figure, DMRS and UCI are located in symbol #11 and #12 in a slot,other locations of DMRS and UCI can be straightforwardly extended.

In another embodiment, DMRS and UCI are multiplexed in a TDM mannerprior to DFT operation. The modulated symbols after DFT operation arethen mapped to allocated resource in frequency. Note this option mayneed time domain channel estimation for UCI decoding.

To enable channel estimation based on DMRS in time domain, a consecutiveDMRS symbol in time may be allocated within the DFT size or the numberof subcarriers allocated for PUCCH transmission. FIG. 3 illustrates oneexample of multiplexing DMRS and UCI in a TDM manner prior to DFToperation. In the example, N₀ and N₁ are the number of samples in timefor DMRS and UCI symbols, respectively. N₁=M_(sc) ^(PUCCH)−N₀, whereM_(sc) ^(PUCCH) is the DFT size or the number of subcarriers allocatedfor PUCCH transmission. Note that M_(sc) ^(PUCCH)=2^(i)3^(j)5^(k), wherei, j, k are non-negative integer value.

Note that N₀ and/or N₁ and/or the ratio between N₀ and M_(sc) ^(PUCCH)may be predefined in the specification, or configured by higher layersvia NR minimum system information (MSI), NR remaining minimum systeminformation (RMSI), NR other system information (OSI) or radio resourcecontrol (RRC) signaling. In another option, N₀ and/or N₁ may bedetermined in accordance with the DFT size or the number of subcarriersallocated for PUCCH transmission. For instance, N₀=M_(sc) ^(PUCCH)/2.

To further reduce the PAPR for PUCCH transmission, π/2 BPSK can be usedfor the modulation of PUCCH and associated DMRS transmission. Inaddition, initialization seed of the DMRS sequence can be given byc _(init)=(2¹⁷(N _(symb) ^(slot) n _(s,f) ^(μ) +l+1)(2N _(ID) ⁰+1)+2N_(ID) ⁰)mod 2³¹

Where N_(symb) ^(slot) is the number of symbols in a slot, l is the OFDMsymbol number within the slot, n_(s,f) ^(μ) is the slot number withinthe radio frame, N_(ID) ⁰ is given by the higher layer parameter. Notethat this may applied for the case when the length of DMRS sequence islarger than 30. When the length of DMRS sequence is less than 30,computer generation sequence can be applied. For instance, DMRS sequencecan be generated based on low-PAPR sequence generation type 2 as definedin Rel-16.

In case π/2 BPSK is used for the modulation of PUCCH the common/globalindex should be used to determine the π/2 phase rotation for UCI andDMRS symbols to guarantee consistency of π/2 BPSK modulation duringtransitions from UCI to DMRS.

PT-RS Design for PUCCH for Above 52.6 GHz Carrier Frequency

As mentioned above, given that for carrier frequencies above 52.6 GHz,phase noise may become a dominate factor, it is important to compensatethe phase noise also for PUCCH transmission in order to ensure decentperformance, especially when considering smaller subcarrier spacing isused for PUCCH transmission. In this regard, phase tracking referencesignal (PT-RS) can be inserted in the transmission of PUCCH.

In one embodiment of the invention, PT-RS is inserted for all PUCCHformats, i.e., PUCCH format 0-4. In another option, PT-RS is insertedonly for a subset of PUCCH formats. For instance, PT-RS is only insertedin the transmission of PUCCH format 3 and 4.

Note that the PT-RS design for PUCCH may follow that for PUSCH withDFT-s-OFDM waveform in Rel-15. In one example, π/2 BPSK can be used forthe modulation of PT-RS transmission for PUCCH. In addition, thesequence generation of PT-RS may be initialized asc _(init)=(2¹⁷(N _(symb) ^(slot) n _(s,f) ^(μ) +l+1)(2N _(ID)+1)+2N_(ID))mod 2³¹

where l is the lowest symbol number in the PUCCH allocation in slotn_(s,f) ^(μ) that contains PT-RS and N_(ID) is configured by higherlayers for PUCCH.

In case π/2 BPSK is used for the modulation of PUCCH the common/globalindex should be used to determine the π/2 phase rotation for PUCCH andPT-RS symbols to guarantee consistency of π/2 BPSK modulation duringtransitions from PUCCH to PT-RS and from PT-RS to PUCCH.

Note that, as QPSK is employed for the modulation for PUCCH format 3 and4, the number of PRB thresholds to determine the PT-RS pattern for PUCCHtransmission may be reduced. In one example, as shown in the Table 1,only three PRB thresholds may be defined for PUCCH transmission.

TABLE 1 PT-RS group pattern as a function of scheduled bandwidth Numberof PT-RS Number of samples Scheduled bandwidth groups per PT-RS groupN_(RB0) ≤ N_(RB) < N_(RB1) 2 2 N_(RB1) ≤ N_(RB) < N_(RB2) 4 4 N_(RB2) ≤N_(RB) 8 4

As a further extension, uniformly distributed PT-RS pattern may beemployed for the transmission of PUCCH. This may apply for all PT-RSpattern for PUCCH transmission with different number of groups andsamples in each group in time domain.

More specifically, assuming the number of groups N_(group) ^(PT-RS) andthe number of samples in each group N_(samp) ^(group) and the totalnumber of subcarriers for UCI transmission or DFT size as M_(sc)^(PUCCH), DFT size is equally divided into N_(group) ^(PT-RS) groups andN_(samp) ^(group) samples are located in the center of each group.

Mathematically, the position of PT-RS samples within the DFT size canbe:

${s\lfloor \frac{M_{sc}^{PUCCH}}{N_{group}^{PT­RS} + 1} \rfloor} + k$

Where s=1, 2, . . . , N_(group) ^(PT-RS) and k=0, 1, . . . , N_(samp)^(group)−1 or k=−N_(samp) ^(group), . . . , −1. In another example,

${k = {{- \lfloor \frac{N_{samp}^{group}}{2} \rfloor} + 1}},\cdots\mspace{14mu},{{\lfloor \frac{N_{samp}^{group}}{2} \rfloor\mspace{14mu}{or}\mspace{14mu} k} = {- \lfloor \frac{N_{samp}^{group}}{2} \rfloor}},\cdots\mspace{14mu},{\lfloor \frac{N_{samp}^{group}}{2} \rfloor - 1.}$

FIG. 4A illustrates one example of uniformly distributed PT-RS patternfor PUCCH transmission. In the example, N_(group) ^(PT-RS)=4 andN_(samp) ^(group)=4.

Systems and Implementations

FIG. 5 illustrates an example architecture of a system 500 of a network,in accordance with various embodiments. The following description isprovided for an example system 500 that operates in conjunction with theLTE system standards and 5G or NR system standards as provided by 3GPPtechnical specifications. However, the example embodiments are notlimited in this regard and the described embodiments may apply to othernetworks that benefit from the principles described herein, such asfuture 3GPP systems (e.g., Sixth Generation (6G)) systems, IEEE 802.16protocols (e.g., WMAN, WiMAX, etc.), or the like.

As shown by FIG. 5 , the system 500 includes UE 501 a and UE 501 b(collectively referred to as “UEs 501” or “UE 501”). In this example,UEs 501 are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreenmobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks),but may also comprise any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such asconsumer electronics devices, cellular phones, smartphones, featurephones, tablet computers, wearable computer devices, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), pagers, wireless handsets, desktop computers, laptopcomputers, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), in-car entertainment (ICE)devices, an Instrument Cluster (IC), head-up display (HUD) devices,onboard diagnostic (OBD) devices, dashtop mobile equipment (DME), mobiledata terminals (MDTs), Electronic Engine Management System (EEMS),electronic/engine control units (ECUs), electronic/engine controlmodules (ECMs), embedded systems, microcontrollers, control modules,engine management systems (EMS), networked or “smart” appliances, MTCdevices, M2M, IoT devices, and/or the like.

In some embodiments, any of the UEs 501 may be IoT UEs, which maycomprise a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applicationsutilizing short-lived UE connections. An IoT UE can utilize technologiessuch as M2M or MTC for exchanging data with an MTC server or device viaa PLMN, ProSe or D2D communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks.The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be a machine-initiated exchange ofdata. An IoT network describes interconnecting IoT UEs, which mayinclude uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within theInternet infrastructure), with short-lived connections. The IoT UEs mayexecute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, statusupdates, etc.) to facilitate the connections of the IoT network.

The UEs 501 may be configured to connect, for example, communicativelycouple, with an or RAN 510. In embodiments, the RAN 510 may be an NG RANor a 5G RAN, an E-UTRAN, or a legacy RAN, such as a UTRAN or GERAN. Asused herein, the term “NG RAN” or the like may refer to a RAN 510 thatoperates in an NR or 5G system 500, and the term “E-UTRAN” or the likemay refer to a RAN 510 that operates in an LTE or 4G system 500. The UEs501 utilize connections (or channels) 503 and 504, respectively, each ofwhich comprises a physical communications interface or layer (discussedin further detail below).

In this example, the connections 503 and 504 are illustrated as an airinterface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent withcellular communications protocols, such as a GSM protocol, a CDMAnetwork protocol, a PTT protocol, a POC protocol, a UMTS protocol, a3GPP LTE protocol, a 5G protocol, a NR protocol, and/or any of the othercommunications protocols discussed herein. In embodiments, the UEs 501may directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface 505. TheProSe interface 505 may alternatively be referred to as a SL interface505 and may comprise one or more logical channels, including but notlimited to a PSCCH, a PSSCH, a PSDCH, and a PSBCH.

The UE 501 b is shown to be configured to access an AP 506 (alsoreferred to as “WLAN node 506,” “WLAN 506,” “WLAN Termination 506,” “WT506” or the like) via connection 507. The connection 507 can comprise alocal wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 506 would comprise a wireless fidelity(Wi-Fi®) router. In this example, the AP 506 is shown to be connected tothe Internet without connecting to the core network of the wirelesssystem (described in further detail below). In various embodiments, theUE 501 b, RAN 510, and AP 506 may be configured to utilize LWA operationand/or LWIP operation. The LWA operation may involve the UE 501 b inRRC_CONNECTED being configured by a RAN node 511 a-b to utilize radioresources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP operation may involve the UE 501 b usingWLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 507) via IPsec protocol tunnelingto authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g., IP packets) sent over theconnection 507. IPsec tunneling may include encapsulating the entiretyof original IP packets and adding a new packet header, therebyprotecting the original header of the IP packets.

The RAN 510 can include one or more AN nodes or RAN nodes 511 a and 511b (collectively referred to as “RAN nodes 511” or “RAN node 511”) thatenable the connections 503 and 504. As used herein, the terms “accessnode,” “access point,” or the like may describe equipment that providesthe radio baseband functions for data and/or voice connectivity betweena network and one or more users. These access nodes can be referred toas BS, gNBs, RAN nodes, eNBs, NodeBs, RSUs, TRxPs or TRPs, and so forth,and can comprise ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) orsatellite stations providing coverage within a geographic area (e.g., acell). As used herein, the term “NG RAN node” or the like may refer to aRAN node 511 that operates in an NR or 5G system 500 (for example, agNB), and the term “E-UTRAN node” or the like may refer to a RAN node511 that operates in an LTE or 4G system 500 (e.g., an eNB). Accordingto various embodiments, the RAN nodes 511 may be implemented as one ormore of a dedicated physical device such as a macrocell base station,and/or a low power (LP) base station for providing femtocells, picocellsor other like cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller usercapacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells.

In some embodiments, all or parts of the RAN nodes 511 may beimplemented as one or more software entities running on server computersas part of a virtual network, which may be referred to as a CRAN and/ora virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In these embodiments, the CRAN orvBBUP may implement a RAN function split, such as a PDCP split whereinRRC and PDCP layers are operated by the CRAN/vBBUP and other L2 protocolentities are operated by individual RAN nodes 511; a MAC/PHY splitwherein RRC, PDCP, RLC, and MAC layers are operated by the CRAN/vBBUPand the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes 511; or a “lowerPHY” split wherein RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layers and upper portions of thePHY layer are operated by the CRAN/vBBUP and lower portions of the PHYlayer are operated by individual RAN nodes 511. This virtualizedframework allows the freed-up processor cores of the RAN nodes 511 toperform other virtualized applications. In some implementations, anindividual RAN node 511 may represent individual gNB-DUs that areconnected to a gNB-CU via individual F1 interfaces (not shown by FIG. 5). In these implementations, the gNB-DUs may include one or more remoteradio heads or RFEMs (see, e.g., FIG. 61 ), and the gNB-CU may beoperated by a server that is located in the RAN 510 (not shown) or by aserver pool in a similar manner as the CRAN/vBBUP. Additionally oralternatively, one or more of the RAN nodes 511 may be next generationeNBs (ng-eNBs), which are RAN nodes that provide E-UTRA user plane andcontrol plane protocol terminations toward the UEs 501, and areconnected to a 5GC via an NG interface (discussed infra).

In V2X scenarios one or more of the RAN nodes 511 may be or act as RSUs.The term “Road Side Unit” or “RSU” may refer to any transportationinfrastructure entity used for V2X communications. An RSU may beimplemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a stationary (or relativelystationary) UE, where an RSU implemented in or by a UE may be referredto as a “UE-type RSU,” an RSU implemented in or by an eNB may bereferred to as an “eNB-type RSU,” an RSU implemented in or by a gNB maybe referred to as a “gNB-type RSU,” and the like. In one example, an RSUis a computing device coupled with radio frequency circuitry located ona roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs 501(vUEs 501). The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry tostore intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, as well asapplications/software to sense and control ongoing vehicular andpedestrian traffic. The RSU may operate on the 5.9 GHz Direct ShortRange Communications (DSRC) band to provide very low latencycommunications required for high speed events, such as crash avoidance,traffic warnings, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the RSUmay operate on the cellular V2X band to provide the aforementioned lowlatency communications, as well as other cellular communicationsservices. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may operate as a Wi-Fihotspot (2.4 GHz band) and/or provide connectivity to one or morecellular networks to provide uplink and downlink communications. Thecomputing device(s) and some or all of the radiofrequency circuitry ofthe RSU may be packaged in a weatherproof enclosure suitable for outdoorinstallation, and may include a network interface controller to providea wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controllerand/or a backhaul network.

Any of the RAN nodes 511 can terminate the air interface protocol andcan be the first point of contact for the UEs 501. In some embodiments,any of the RAN nodes 511 can fulfill various logical functions for theRAN 510 including, but not limited to, radio network controller (RNC)functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamicradio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobilitymanagement.

In embodiments, the UEs 501 can be configured to communicate using OFDMcommunication signals with each other or with any of the RAN nodes 511over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance with variouscommunication techniques, such as, but not limited to, an OFDMAcommunication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a SC-FDMAcommunication technique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelinkcommunications), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited inthis respect. The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality of orthogonalsubcarriers.

In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlinktransmissions from any of the RAN nodes 511 to the UEs 501, while uplinktransmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid can be atime-frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequency resourcegrid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in each slot. Sucha time-frequency plane representation is a common practice for OFDMsystems, which makes it intuitive for radio resource allocation. Eachcolumn and each row of the resource grid corresponds to one OFDM symboland one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource gridin the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radio frame. Thesmallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted as a resourceelement. Each resource grid comprises a number of resource blocks, whichdescribe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements.Each resource block comprises a collection of resource elements; in thefrequency domain, this may represent the smallest quantity of resourcesthat currently can be allocated. There are several different physicaldownlink channels that are conveyed using such resource blocks.

According to various embodiments, the UEs 501 and the RAN nodes 511communicate data (for example, transmit and receive) data over alicensed medium (also referred to as the “licensed spectrum” and/or the“licensed band”) and an unlicensed shared medium (also referred to asthe “unlicensed spectrum” and/or the “unlicensed band”). The licensedspectrum may include channels that operate in the frequency range ofapproximately 400 MHz to approximately 3.8 GHz, whereas the unlicensedspectrum may include the 5 GHz band.

To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, the UEs 501 and the RAN nodes 511may operate using LAA, eLAA, and/or feLAA mechanisms. In theseimplementations, the UEs 501 and the RAN nodes 511 may perform one ormore known medium-sensing operations and/or carrier-sensing operationsin order to determine whether one or more channels in the unlicensedspectrum is unavailable or otherwise occupied prior to transmitting inthe unlicensed spectrum. The medium/carrier sensing operations may beperformed according to a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

LBT is a mechanism whereby equipment (for example, UEs 501 RAN nodes511, etc.) senses a medium (for example, a channel or carrier frequency)and transmits when the medium is sensed to be idle (or when a specificchannel in the medium is sensed to be unoccupied). The medium sensingoperation may include CCA, which utilizes at least ED to determine thepresence or absence of other signals on a channel in order to determineif a channel is occupied or clear. This LBT mechanism allowscellular/LAA networks to coexist with incumbent systems in theunlicensed spectrum and with other LAA networks. ED may include sensingRF energy across an intended transmission band for a period of time andcomparing the sensed RF energy to a predefined or configured threshold.

Typically, the incumbent systems in the 5 GHz band are WLANs based onIEEE 802.11 technologies. WLAN employs a contention-based channel accessmechanism, called CSMA/CA. Here, when a WLAN node (e.g., a mobilestation (MS) such as UE 501, AP 506, or the like) intends to transmit,the WLAN node may first perform CCA before transmission. Additionally, abackoff mechanism is used to avoid collisions in situations where morethan one WLAN node senses the channel as idle and transmits at the sametime. The backoff mechanism may be a counter that is drawn randomlywithin the CWS, which is increased exponentially upon the occurrence ofcollision and reset to a minimum value when the transmission succeeds.The LBT mechanism designed for LAA is somewhat similar to the CSMA/CA ofWLAN. In some implementations, the LBT procedure for DL or ULtransmission bursts including PDSCH or PUSCH transmissions,respectively, may have an LAA contention window that is variable inlength between X and Y ECCA slots, where X and Y are minimum and maximumvalues for the CWSs for LAA. In one example, the minimum CWS for an LAAtransmission may be 9 microseconds (p); however, the size of the CWS anda MCOT (for example, a transmission burst) may be based on governmentalregulatory requirements.

The LAA mechanisms are built upon CA technologies of LTE-Advancedsystems. In CA, each aggregated carrier is referred to as a CC. A CC mayhave a bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15 or 20 MHz and a maximum of fiveCCs can be aggregated, and therefore, a maximum aggregated bandwidth is100 MHz. In FDD systems, the number of aggregated carriers can bedifferent for DL and UL, where the number of UL CCs is equal to or lowerthan the number of DL component carriers. In some cases, individual CCscan have a different bandwidth than other CCs. In TDD systems, thenumber of CCs as well as the bandwidths of each CC is usually the samefor DL and UL.

CA also comprises individual serving cells to provide individual CCs.The coverage of the serving cells may differ, for example, because CCson different frequency bands will experience different pathloss. Aprimary service cell or PCell may provide a PCC for both UL and DL, andmay handle RRC and NAS related activities. The other serving cells arereferred to as SCells, and each SCell may provide an individual SCC forboth UL and DL. The SCCs may be added and removed as required, whilechanging the PCC may require the UE 501 to undergo a handover. In LAA,eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the SCells may operate in the unlicensedspectrum (referred to as “LAA SCells”), and the LAA SCells are assistedby a PCell operating in the licensed spectrum. When a UE is configuredwith more than one LAA SCell, the UE may receive UL grants on theconfigured LAA SCells indicating different PUSCH starting positionswithin a same subframe.

The PDSCH carries user data and higher-layer signaling to the UEs 501.The PDCCH carries information about the transport format and resourceallocations related to the PDSCH channel, among other things. It mayalso inform the UEs 501 about the transport format, resource allocation,and HARQ information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically,downlink scheduling (assigning control and shared channel resourceblocks to the UE 501 b within a cell) may be performed at any of the RANnodes 511 based on channel quality information fed back from any of theUEs 501. The downlink resource assignment information may be sent on thePDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs 501.

The PDCCH uses CCEs to convey the control information. Before beingmapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols may firstbe organized into quadruplets, which may then be permuted using asub-block interleaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH may be transmittedusing one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE may correspond to ninesets of four physical resource elements known as REGs. Four QuadraturePhase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCHcan be transmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of theDCI and the channel condition. There can be four or more different PDCCHformats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregationlevel, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

Some embodiments may use concepts for resource allocation for controlchannel information that are an extension of the above-describedconcepts. For example, some embodiments may utilize an EPDCCH that usesPDSCH resources for control information transmission. The EPDCCH may betransmitted using one or more ECCEs. Similar to above, each ECCE maycorrespond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as anEREGs. An ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs in some situations.

The RAN nodes 511 may be configured to communicate with one another viainterface 512. In embodiments where the system 500 is an LTE system, theinterface 512 may be an X2 interface 512. The X2 interface may bedefined between two or more RAN nodes 511 (e.g., two or more eNBs andthe like) that connect to EPC 520, and/or between two eNBs connecting toEPC 520. In some implementations, the X2 interface may include an X2user plane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C).The X2-U may provide flow control mechanisms for user data packetstransferred over the X2 interface, and may be used to communicateinformation about the delivery of user data between eNBs. For example,the X2-U may provide specific sequence number information for user datatransferred from a MeNB to an SeNB; information about successful insequence delivery of PDCP PDUs to a UE 501 from an SeNB for user data;information of PDCP PDUs that were not delivered to a UE 501;information about a current minimum desired buffer size at the SeNB fortransmitting to the UE user data; and the like. The X2-C may provideintra-LTE access mobility functionality, including context transfersfrom source to target eNBs, user plane transport control, etc.; loadmanagement functionality; as well as inter-cell interferencecoordination functionality.

In embodiments where the system 500 is a 5G or NR system, the interface512 may be an Xn interface 512. The Xn interface is defined between twoor more RAN nodes 511 (e.g., two or more gNBs and the like) that connectto 5GC 520, between a RAN node 511 (e.g., a gNB) connecting to 5GC 520and an eNB, and/or between two eNBs connecting to 5GC 520. In someimplementations, the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U)interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. The Xn-U may providenon-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and support/provide dataforwarding and flow control functionality. The Xn-C may providemanagement and error handling functionality, functionality to manage theXn-C interface; mobility support for UE 501 in a connected mode (e.g.,CM-CONNECTED) including functionality to manage the UE mobility forconnected mode between one or more RAN nodes 511. The mobility supportmay include context transfer from an old (source) serving RAN node 511to new (target) serving RAN node 511; and control of user plane tunnelsbetween old (source) serving RAN node 511 to new (target) serving RANnode 511. A protocol stack of the Xn-U may include a transport networklayer built on Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer, and a GTP-U layeron top of a UDP and/or IP layer(s) to carry user plane PDUs. The Xn-Cprotocol stack may include an application layer signaling protocol(referred to as Xn Application Protocol (Xn-AP)) and a transport networklayer that is built on SCTP. The SCTP may be on top of an IP layer, andmay provide the guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. Inthe transport IP layer, point-to-point transmission is used to deliverthe signaling PDUs. In other implementations, the Xn-U protocol stackand/or the Xn-C protocol stack may be same or similar to the user planeand/or control plane protocol stack(s) shown and described herein.

The RAN 510 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network—inthis embodiment, core network (CN) 520. The CN 520 may comprise aplurality of network elements 522, which are configured to offer variousdata and telecommunications services to customers/subscribers (e.g.,users of UEs 501) who are connected to the CN 520 via the RAN 510. Thecomponents of the CN 520 may be implemented in one physical node orseparate physical nodes including components to read and executeinstructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g.,a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In some embodiments,NFV may be utilized to virtualize any or all of the above-describednetwork node functions via executable instructions stored in one or morecomputer-readable storage mediums (described in further detail below). Alogical instantiation of the CN 520 may be referred to as a networkslice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of the CN 520 may bereferred to as a network sub-slice. NFV architectures andinfrastructures may be used to virtualize one or more network functions,alternatively performed by proprietary hardware, onto physical resourcescomprising a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storagehardware, or switches. In other words, NFV systems can be used toexecute virtual or reconfigurable implementations of one or more EPCcomponents/functions.

Generally, the application server 530 may be an element offeringapplications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g.,UMTS PS domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). The application server 530can also be configured to support one or more communication services(e.g., VoIP sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, socialnetworking services, etc.) for the UEs 501 via the EPC 520.

In embodiments, the CN 520 may be a 5GC (referred to as “5GC 520” or thelike), and the RAN 510 may be connected with the CN 520 via an NGinterface 513. In embodiments, the NG interface 513 may be split intotwo parts, an NG user plane (NG-U) interface 514, which carries trafficdata between the RAN nodes 511 and a UPF, and the S1 control plane(NG-C) interface 515, which is a signaling interface between the RANnodes 511 and AMFs.

In embodiments, the CN 520 may be a 5G CN (referred to as “5GC 520” orthe like), while in other embodiments, the CN 520 may be an EPC). WhereCN 520 is an EPC (referred to as “EPC 520” or the like), the RAN 510 maybe connected with the CN 520 via an S1 interface 513. In embodiments,the S1 interface 513 may be split into two parts, an S1 user plane(S1-U) interface 514, which carries traffic data between the RAN nodes511 and the S-GW, and the S1-MME interface 515, which is a signalinginterface between the RAN nodes 511 and MMES.

FIG. 6A illustrates an example of infrastructure equipment 6100 inaccordance with various embodiments. The infrastructure equipment 6100(or “system 6100”) may be implemented as a base station, radio head, RANnode such as the RAN nodes 511 and/or AP 506 shown and describedpreviously, application server(s) 530, and/or any other element/devicediscussed herein. In other examples, the system 6100 could beimplemented in or by a UE.

The system 6100 includes application circuitry 6105, baseband circuitry6110, one or more radio front end modules (RFEMs) 6115, memory circuitry6120, power management integrated circuitry (PMIC) 6125, power teecircuitry 6130, network controller circuitry 6135, network interfaceconnector 6140, satellite positioning circuitry 6145, and user interface6150. In some embodiments, the device 6100 may include additionalelements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor,or input/output (I/O) interface. In other embodiments, the componentsdescribed below may be included in more than one device. For example,said circuitries may be separately included in more than one device forCRAN, vBBU, or other like implementations.

Application circuitry 6105 includes circuitry such as, but not limitedto one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one ormore of low drop-out voltage regulators (LDOs), interrupt controllers,serial interfaces such as SPI, I2C or universal programmable serialinterface module, real time clock (RTC), timer-counters includinginterval and watchdog timers, general purpose input/output (I/O or IO),memory card controllers such as Secure Digital (SD) MultiMediaCard (MMC)or similar, Universal Serial Bus (USB) interfaces, Mobile IndustryProcessor Interface (MIPI) interfaces and Joint Test Access Group (JTAG)test access ports. The processors (or cores) of the applicationcircuitry 6105 may be coupled with or may include memory/storageelements and may be configured to execute instructions stored in thememory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems torun on the system 6100. In some implementations, the memory/storageelements may be on-chip memory circuitry, which may include any suitablevolatile and/or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM,Flash memory, solid-state memory, and/or any other type of memory devicetechnology, such as those discussed herein.

The processor(s) of application circuitry 6105 may include, for example,one or more processor cores (CPUs), one or more application processors,one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), one or more reducedinstruction set computing (RISC) processors, one or more Acorn RISCMachine (ARM) processors, one or more complex instruction set computing(CISC) processors, one or more digital signal processors (DSP), one ormore FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or moremicroprocessors or controllers, or any suitable combination thereof. Insome embodiments, the application circuitry 6105 may comprise, or maybe, a special-purpose processor/controller to operate according to thevarious embodiments herein. As examples, the processor(s) of applicationcircuitry 6105 may include one or more Intel Pentium®, Core®, or Xeon®processor(s); Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Ryzen® processor(s),Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), or Epyc® processors; ARM-basedprocessor(s) licensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd. such as the ARM Cortex-Afamily of processors and the ThunderX2® provided by Cavium™, Inc.; aMIPS-based design from MIPS Technologies, Inc. such as MIPS WarriorP-class processors; and/or the like. In some embodiments, the system6100 may not utilize application circuitry 6105, and instead may includea special-purpose processor/controller to process IP data received froman EPC or 5GC, for example.

In some implementations, the application circuitry 6105 may include oneor more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors,programmable processing devices, or the like. The one or more hardwareaccelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and/or deeplearning (DL) accelerators. As examples, the programmable processingdevices may be one or more a field-programmable devices (FPDs) such asfield-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and the like; programmable logicdevices (PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs(HCPLDs), and the like; ASICs such as structured ASICs and the like;programmable SoCs (PSoCs); and the like. In such implementations, thecircuitry of application circuitry 6105 may comprise logic blocks orlogic fabric, and other interconnected resources that may be programmedto perform various functions, such as the procedures, methods,functions, etc. of the various embodiments discussed herein. In suchembodiments, the circuitry of application circuitry 6105 may includememory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flashmemory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM),anti-fuses, etc.)) used to store logic blocks, logic fabric, data, etc.in look-up-tables (LUTs) and the like.

The baseband circuitry 6110 may be implemented, for example, as asolder-down substrate including one or more integrated circuits, asingle packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board or amulti-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Thevarious hardware electronic elements of baseband circuitry 6110 arediscussed infra with regard to FIG. 7 .

User interface circuitry 6150 may include one or more user interfacesdesigned to enable user interaction with the system 6100 or peripheralcomponent interfaces designed to enable peripheral component interactionwith the system 6100. User interfaces may include, but are not limitedto, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), oneor more indicators (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)), a physicalkeyboard or keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touchscreen, speakers orother audio emitting devices, microphones, a printer, a scanner, aheadset, a display screen or display device, etc. Peripheral componentinterfaces may include, but are not limited to, a nonvolatile memoryport, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power supplyinterface, etc.

The radio front end modules (RFEMs) 6115 may comprise a millimeter wave(mmWave) RFEM and one or more sub-mmWave radio frequency integratedcircuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more sub-mmWaveRFICs may be physically separated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFICs mayinclude connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see e.g.,antenna array 7111 of FIG. 7 infra), and the RFEM may be connected tomultiple antennas. In alternative implementations, both mmWave andsub-mmWave radio functions may be implemented in the same physical RFEM6115, which incorporates both mmWave antennas and sub-mmWave.

The memory circuitry 6120 may include one or more of volatile memoryincluding dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and/or synchronous dynamicrandom access memory (SDRAM), and nonvolatile memory (NVM) includinghigh-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as Flashmemory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistiverandom access memory (MRAM), etc., and may incorporate thethree-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memories from Intel® andMicron®. Memory circuitry 6120 may be implemented as one or more ofsolder down packaged integrated circuits, socketed memory modules andplug-in memory cards.

The PMIC 6125 may include voltage regulators, surge protectors, poweralarm detection circuitry, and one or more backup power sources such asa battery or capacitor. The power alarm detection circuitry may detectone or more of brown out (under-voltage) and surge (over-voltage)conditions. The power tee circuitry 6130 may provide for electricalpower drawn from a network cable to provide both power supply and dataconnectivity to the infrastructure equipment 6100 using a single cable.

The network controller circuitry 6135 may provide connectivity to anetwork using a standard network interface protocol such as Ethernet,Ethernet over GRE Tunnels, Ethernet over Multiprotocol Label Switching(MPLS), or some other suitable protocol. Network connectivity may beprovided to/from the infrastructure equipment 6100 via network interfaceconnector 6140 using a physical connection, which may be electrical(commonly referred to as a “copper interconnect”), optical, or wireless.The network controller circuitry 6135 may include one or more dedicatedprocessors and/or FPGAs to communicate using one or more of theaforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the networkcontroller circuitry 6135 may include multiple controllers to provideconnectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

The positioning circuitry 6145 includes circuitry to receive and decodesignals transmitted/broadcasted by a positioning network of a globalnavigation satellite system (GNSS). Examples of navigation satelliteconstellations (or GNSS) include United States' Global PositioningSystem (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation System (GLONASS), the EuropeanUnion's Galileo system, China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, aregional navigation system or GNSS augmentation system (e.g., Navigationwith Indian Constellation (NAVIC), Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System(QZSS), France's Doppler Orbitography and Radio-positioning Integratedby Satellite (DORIS), etc.), or the like. The positioning circuitry 6145comprises various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devicessuch as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, and the like tofacilitate OTA communications) to communicate with components of apositioning network, such as navigation satellite constellation nodes.In some embodiments, the positioning circuitry 6145 may include aMicro-Technology for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (Micro-PNT) ICthat uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking/estimationwithout GNSS assistance. The positioning circuitry 6145 may also be partof, or interact with, the baseband circuitry 6110 and/or RFEMs 6115 tocommunicate with the nodes and components of the positioning network.The positioning circuitry 6145 may also provide position data and/ortime data to the application circuitry 6105, which may use the data tosynchronize operations with various infrastructure (e.g., RAN nodes 511,etc.), or the like.

The components shown by FIG. 6A may communicate with one another usinginterface circuitry, which may include any number of bus and/orinterconnect (IX) technologies such as industry standard architecture(ISA), extended ISA (EISA), peripheral component interconnect (PCI),peripheral component interconnect extended (PCIx), PCI express (PCIe),or any number of other technologies. The bus/IX may be a proprietarybus, for example, used in a SoC based system. Other bus/IX systems maybe included, such as an I²C interface, an SPI interface, point to pointinterfaces, and a power bus, among others.

FIG. 6B illustrates an example of a platform 6200 (or “device 6200”) inaccordance with various embodiments. In embodiments, the computerplatform 6200 may be suitable for use as UEs 501, application servers530, and/or any other element/device discussed herein. The platform 6200may include any combinations of the components shown in the example. Thecomponents of platform 6200 may be implemented as integrated circuits(ICs), portions thereof, discrete electronic devices, or other modules,logic, hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof adapted inthe computer platform 6200, or as components otherwise incorporatedwithin a chassis of a larger system. The block diagram of FIG. 6B isintended to show a high level view of components of the computerplatform 6200. However, some of the components shown may be omitted,additional components may be present, and different arrangement of thecomponents shown may occur in other implementations.

Application circuitry 6205 includes circuitry such as, but not limitedto one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one ormore of LDOs, interrupt controllers, serial interfaces such as SPI, I2Cor universal programmable serial interface module, RTC, timer-countersincluding interval and watchdog timers, general purpose I/O, memory cardcontrollers such as SD MMC or similar, USB interfaces, MIPI interfaces,and JTAG test access ports. The processors (or cores) of the applicationcircuitry 6205 may be coupled with or may include memory/storageelements and may be configured to execute instructions stored in thememory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems torun on the system 6200. In some implementations, the memory/storageelements may be on-chip memory circuitry, which may include any suitablevolatile and/or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM,Flash memory, solid-state memory, and/or any other type of memory devicetechnology, such as those discussed herein.

The processor(s) of application circuitry 6105 may include, for example,one or more processor cores, one or more application processors, one ormore GPUs, one or more RISC processors, one or more ARM processors, oneor more CISC processors, one or more DSP, one or more FPGAs, one or morePLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, amultithreaded processor, an ultra-low voltage processor, an embeddedprocessor, some other known processing element, or any suitablecombination thereof. In some embodiments, the application circuitry 6105may comprise, or may be, a special-purpose processor/controller tooperate according to the various embodiments herein.

As examples, the processor(s) of application circuitry 6205 may includean Intel® Architecture Core™ based processor, such as a Quark™, anAtom™, an i3, an i5, an i7, or an MCU-class processor, or another suchprocessor available from Intel® Corporation, Santa Clara, Calif. Theprocessors of the application circuitry 6205 may also be one or more ofAdvanced Micro Devices (AMD) Ryzen® processor(s) or AcceleratedProcessing Units (APUs); A5-A9 processor(s) from Apple® Inc.,Snapdragon™ processor(s) from Qualcomm® Technologies, Inc., TexasInstruments, Inc.® Open Multimedia Applications Platform (OMAP)™processor(s); a MIPS-based design from MIPS Technologies, Inc. such asMIPS Warrior M-class, Warrior I-class, and Warrior P-class processors;an ARM-based design licensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as the ARMCortex-A, Cortex-R, and Cortex-M family of processors; or the like. Insome implementations, the application circuitry 6205 may be a part of asystem on a chip (SoC) in which the application circuitry 6205 and othercomponents are formed into a single integrated circuit, or a singlepackage, such as the Edison™ or Galileo™ SoC boards from Intel®Corporation.

Additionally or alternatively, application circuitry 6205 may includecircuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more a field-programmabledevices (FPDs) such as FPGAs and the like; programmable logic devices(PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), andthe like; ASICs such as structured ASICs and the like; programmable SoCs(PSoCs); and the like. In such embodiments, the circuitry of applicationcircuitry 6205 may comprise logic blocks or logic fabric, and otherinterconnected resources that may be programmed to perform variousfunctions, such as the procedures, methods, functions, etc. of thevarious embodiments discussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuitryof application circuitry 6205 may include memory cells (e.g., erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory(e.g., static random access memory (SRAM), anti-fuses, etc.)) used tostore logic blocks, logic fabric, data, etc. in look-up tables (LUTs)and the like.

The baseband circuitry 6210 may be implemented, for example, as asolder-down substrate including one or more integrated circuits, asingle packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board or amulti-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Thevarious hardware electronic elements of baseband circuitry 6210 arediscussed infra with regard to FIG. 7 .

The RFEMs 6215 may comprise a millimeter wave (mmWave) RFEM and one ormore sub-mmWave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In someimplementations, the one or more sub-mmWave RFICs may be physicallyseparated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFICs may include connections to oneor more antennas or antenna arrays (see e.g., antenna array 7111 of FIG.7 infra), and the RFEM may be connected to multiple antennas. Inalternative implementations, both mmWave and sub-mmWave radio functionsmay be implemented in the same physical RFEM 6215, which incorporatesboth mmWave antennas and sub-mmWave.

The memory circuitry 6220 may include any number and type of memorydevices used to provide for a given amount of system memory. Asexamples, the memory circuitry 6220 may include one or more of volatilememory including random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM) and/orsynchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), and nonvolatile memory (NVM) includinghigh-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as Flashmemory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistiverandom access memory (MRAM), etc. The memory circuitry 6220 may bedeveloped in accordance with a Joint Electron Devices EngineeringCouncil (JEDEC) low power double data rate (LPDDR)-based design, such asLPDDR2, LPDDR3, LPDDR4, or the like. Memory circuitry 6220 may beimplemented as one or more of solder down packaged integrated circuits,single die package (SDP), dual die package (DDP) or quad die package(Q17P), socketed memory modules, dual inline memory modules (DIMMs)including microDIMMs or MiniDIMMs, and/or soldered onto a motherboardvia a ball grid array (BGA). In low power implementations, the memorycircuitry 6220 may be on-die memory or registers associated with theapplication circuitry 6205. To provide for persistent storage ofinformation such as data, applications, operating systems and so forth,memory circuitry 6220 may include one or more mass storage devices,which may include, inter alia, a solid state disk drive (SSDD), harddisk drive (HDD), a micro HDD, resistance change memories, phase changememories, holographic memories, or chemical memories, among others. Forexample, the computer platform 6200 may incorporate thethree-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memories from Intel® andMicron®.

Removable memory circuitry 6223 may include devices, circuitry,enclosures/housings, ports or receptacles, etc. used to couple portabledata storage devices with the platform 6200. These portable data storagedevices may be used for mass storage purposes, and may include, forexample, flash memory cards (e.g., Secure Digital (SD) cards, microSDcards, xD picture cards, and the like), and USB flash drives, opticaldiscs, external HDDs, and the like.

The platform 6200 may also include interface circuitry (not shown) thatis used to connect external devices with the platform 6200. The externaldevices connected to the platform 6200 via the interface circuitryinclude sensor circuitry 6221 and electro-mechanical components (EMCs)6222, as well as removable memory devices coupled to removable memorycircuitry 6223.

The sensor circuitry 6221 include devices, modules, or subsystems whosepurpose is to detect events or changes in its environment and send theinformation (sensor data) about the detected events to some other adevice, module, subsystem, etc. Examples of such sensors include, interalia, inertia measurement units (IMUs) comprising accelerometers,gyroscopes, and/or magnetometers; microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)or nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) comprising 3-axisaccelerometers, 3-axis gyroscopes, and/or magnetometers; level sensors;flow sensors; temperature sensors (e.g., thermistors); pressure sensors;barometric pressure sensors; gravimeters; altimeters; image capturedevices (e.g., cameras or lensless apertures); light detection andranging (LiDAR) sensors; proximity sensors (e.g., infrared radiationdetector and the like), depth sensors, ambient light sensors, ultrasonictransceivers; microphones or other like audio capture devices; etc.

EMCs 6222 include devices, modules, or subsystems whose purpose is toenable platform 6200 to change its state, position, and/or orientation,or move or control a mechanism or (sub)system. Additionally, EMCs 6222may be configured to generate and send messages/signaling to othercomponents of the platform 6200 to indicate a current state of the EMCs6222. Examples of the EMCs 6222 include one or more power switches,relays including electromechanical relays (EMRs) and/or solid staterelays (SSRs), actuators (e.g., valve actuators, etc.), an audible soundgenerator, a visual warning device, motors (e.g., DC motors, steppermotors, etc.), wheels, thrusters, propellers, claws, clamps, hooks,and/or other like electro-mechanical components. In embodiments,platform 6200 is configured to operate one or more EMCs 6222 based onone or more captured events and/or instructions or control signalsreceived from a service provider and/or various clients.

In some implementations, the interface circuitry may connect theplatform 6200 with positioning circuitry 6245. The positioning circuitry6245 includes circuitry to receive and decode signalstransmitted/broadcasted by a positioning network of a GNSS. Examples ofnavigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) include United States'GPS, Russia's GLONASS, the European Union's Galileo system, China'sBeiDou Navigation Satellite System, a regional navigation system or GNSSaugmentation system (e.g., NAVIC), Japan's QZSS, France's DORIS, etc.),or the like. The positioning circuitry 6245 comprises various hardwareelements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters,amplifiers, antenna elements, and the like to facilitate OTAcommunications) to communicate with components of a positioning network,such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments,the positioning circuitry 6245 may include a Micro-PNT IC that uses amaster timing clock to perform position tracking/estimation without GNSSassistance. The positioning circuitry 6245 may also be part of, orinteract with, the baseband circuitry 6110 and/or RFEMs 6215 tocommunicate with the nodes and components of the positioning network.The positioning circuitry 6245 may also provide position data and/ortime data to the application circuitry 6205, which may use the data tosynchronize operations with various infrastructure (e.g., radio basestations), for turn-by-turn navigation applications, or the like

In some implementations, the interface circuitry may connect theplatform 6200 with Near-Field Communication (NFC) circuitry 6240. NFCcircuitry 6240 is configured to provide contactless, short-rangecommunications based on radio frequency identification (RFID) standards,wherein magnetic field induction is used to enable communication betweenNFC circuitry 6240 and NFC-enabled devices external to the platform 6200(e.g., an “NFC touchpoint”). NFC circuitry 6240 comprises an NFCcontroller coupled with an antenna element and a processor coupled withthe NFC controller. The NFC controller may be a chip/IC providing NFCfunctionalities to the NFC circuitry 6240 by executing NFC controllerfirmware and an NFC stack. The NFC stack may be executed by theprocessor to control the NFC controller, and the NFC controller firmwaremay be executed by the NFC controller to control the antenna element toemit short-range RF signals. The RF signals may power a passive NFC tag(e.g., a microchip embedded in a sticker or wristband) to transmitstored data to the NFC circuitry 6240, or initiate data transfer betweenthe NFC circuitry 6240 and another active NFC device (e.g., a smartphoneor an NFC-enabled POS terminal) that is proximate to the platform 6200.

The driver circuitry 6246 may include software and hardware elementsthat operate to control particular devices that are embedded in theplatform 6200, attached to the platform 6200, or otherwisecommunicatively coupled with the platform 6200. The driver circuitry6246 may include individual drivers allowing other components of theplatform 6200 to interact with or control various input/output (I/O)devices that may be present within, or connected to, the platform 6200.For example, driver circuitry 6246 may include a display driver tocontrol and allow access to a display device, a touchscreen driver tocontrol and allow access to a touchscreen interface of the platform6200, sensor drivers to obtain sensor readings of sensor circuitry 6221and control and allow access to sensor circuitry 6221, EMC drivers toobtain actuator positions of the EMCs 6222 and/or control and allowaccess to the EMCs 6222, a camera driver to control and allow access toan embedded image capture device, audio drivers to control and allowaccess to one or more audio devices.

The power management integrated circuitry (PMIC) 6225 (also referred toas “power management circuitry 6225”) may manage power provided tovarious components of the platform 6200. In particular, with respect tothe baseband circuitry 6210, the PMIC 6225 may control power-sourceselection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion.The PMIC 6225 may often be included when the platform 6200 is capable ofbeing powered by a battery 6230, for example, when the device isincluded in a UE 501.

In some embodiments, the PMIC 6225 may control, or otherwise be part of,various power saving mechanisms of the platform 6200. For example, ifthe platform 6200 is in an RRC_Connected state, where it is stillconnected to the RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, thenit may enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after aperiod of inactivity. During this state, the platform 6200 may powerdown for brief intervals of time and thus save power. If there is nodata traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the platform6200 may transition off to an RRC_Idle state, where it disconnects fromthe network and does not perform operations such as channel qualityfeedback, handover, etc. The platform 6200 goes into a very low powerstate and it performs paging where again it periodically wakes up tolisten to the network and then powers down again. The platform 6200 maynot receive data in this state; in order to receive data, it musttransition back to RRC_Connected state. An additional power saving modemay allow a device to be unavailable to the network for periods longerthan a paging interval (ranging from seconds to a few hours). Duringthis time, the device is totally unreachable to the network and maypower down completely. Any data sent during this time incurs a largedelay and it is assumed the delay is acceptable.

A battery 6230 may power the platform 6200, although in some examplesthe platform 6200 may be mounted deployed in a fixed location, and mayhave a power supply coupled to an electrical grid. The battery 6230 maybe a lithium ion battery, a metal-air battery, such as a zinc-airbattery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, and the like.In some implementations, such as in V2X applications, the battery 6230may be a typical lead-acid automotive battery.

In some implementations, the battery 6230 may be a “smart battery,”which includes or is coupled with a Battery Management System (BMS) orbattery monitoring integrated circuitry. The BMS may be included in theplatform 6200 to track the state of charge (SoCh) of the battery 6230.The BMS may be used to monitor other parameters of the battery 6230 toprovide failure predictions, such as the state of health (SoH) and thestate of function (SoF) of the battery 6230. The BMS may communicate theinformation of the battery 6230 to the application circuitry 6205 orother components of the platform 6200. The BMS may also include ananalog-to-digital (ADC) convertor that allows the application circuitry6205 to directly monitor the voltage of the battery 6230 or the currentflow from the battery 6230. The battery parameters may be used todetermine actions that the platform 6200 may perform, such astransmission frequency, network operation, sensing frequency, and thelike.

A power block, or other power supply coupled to an electrical grid maybe coupled with the BMS to charge the battery 6230. In some examples,the power block 630 may be replaced with a wireless power receiver toobtain the power wirelessly, for example, through a loop antenna in thecomputer platform 6200. In these examples, a wireless battery chargingcircuit may be included in the BMS. The specific charging circuitschosen may depend on the size of the battery 6230, and thus, the currentrequired. The charging may be performed using the Airfuel standardpromulgated by the Airfuel Alliance, the Qi wireless charging standardpromulgated by the Wireless Power Consortium, or the Rezence chargingstandard promulgated by the Alliance for Wireless Power, among others.

User interface circuitry 6250 includes various input/output (I/O)devices present within, or connected to, the platform 6200, and includesone or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with theplatform 6200 and/or peripheral component interfaces designed to enableperipheral component interaction with the platform 6200. The userinterface circuitry 6250 includes input device circuitry and outputdevice circuitry. Input device circuitry includes any physical orvirtual means for accepting an input including, inter alia, one or morephysical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard,keypad, mouse, touchpad, touchscreen, microphones, scanner, headset,and/or the like. The output device circuitry includes any physical orvirtual means for showing information or otherwise conveyinginformation, such as sensor readings, actuator position(s), or otherlike information. Output device circuitry may include any number and/orcombinations of audio or visual display, including, inter alia, one ormore simple visual outputs/indicators (e.g., binary status indicators(e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)) and multi-character visual outputs,or more complex outputs such as display devices or touchscreens (e.g.,Liquid Chrystal Displays (LCD), LED displays, quantum dot displays,projectors, etc.), with the output of characters, graphics, multimediaobjects, and the like being generated or produced from the operation ofthe platform 6200. The output device circuitry may also include speakersor other audio emitting devices, printer(s), and/or the like. In someembodiments, the sensor circuitry 6221 may be used as the input devicecircuitry (e.g., an image capture device, motion capture device, or thelike) and one or more EMCs may be used as the output device circuitry(e.g., an actuator to provide haptic feedback or the like). In anotherexample, NFC circuitry comprising an NFC controller coupled with anantenna element and a processing device may be included to readelectronic tags and/or connect with another NFC-enabled device.Peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, anon-volatile memory port, a USB port, an audio jack, a power supplyinterface, etc.

Although not shown, the components of platform 6200 may communicate withone another using a suitable bus or interconnect (IX) technology, whichmay include any number of technologies, including ISA, EISA, PCI, PCIx,PCIe, a Time-Trigger Protocol (TTP) system, a FlexRay system, or anynumber of other technologies. The bus/IX may be a proprietary bus/IX,for example, used in a SoC based system. Other bus/IX systems may beincluded, such as an I2C interface, an SPI interface, point-to-pointinterfaces, and a power bus, among others.

FIG. 7 illustrates example components of baseband circuitry 7110 andradio front end modules (RFEM) 7115 in accordance with variousembodiments. The baseband circuitry 7110 corresponds to the basebandcircuitry 6110 and 6210 of FIGS. 6A and 6B, respectively. The RFEM 7115corresponds to the RFEM 6115 and 6215 of FIGS. 6A and 6B, respectively.As shown, the RFEMs 7115 may include Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry7106, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 7108, antenna array 7111 coupledtogether at least as shown.

The baseband circuitry 7110 includes circuitry and/or control logicconfigured to carry out various radio/network protocol and radio controlfunctions that enable communication with one or more radio networks viathe RF circuitry 7106. The radio control functions may include, but arenot limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radiofrequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulationcircuitry of the baseband circuitry 7110 may include Fast-FourierTransform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demappingfunctionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of thebaseband circuitry 7110 may include convolution, tail-bitingconvolution, turbo, Viterbi, or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC)encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulationand encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples andmay include other suitable functionality in other embodiments. Thebaseband circuitry 7110 is configured to process baseband signalsreceived from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry 7106 and togenerate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry7106. The baseband circuitry 7110 is configured to interface withapplication circuitry 6105/6205 (see FIGS. 6A and 6B) for generation andprocessing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of theRF circuitry 7106. The baseband circuitry 7110 may handle various radiocontrol functions.

The aforementioned circuitry and/or control logic of the basebandcircuitry 7110 may include one or more single or multi-core processors.For example, the one or more processors may include a 3G basebandprocessor 7104A, a 4G/LTE baseband processor 7104B, a 5G/NR basebandprocessor 7104C, or some other baseband processor(s) 7104D for otherexisting generations, generations in development or to be developed inthe future (e.g., sixth generation (6G), etc.). In other embodiments,some or all of the functionality of baseband processors 7104A-D may beincluded in modules stored in the memory 7104G and executed via aCentral Processing Unit (CPU) 7104E. In other embodiments, some or allof the functionality of baseband processors 7104A-D may be provided ashardware accelerators (e.g., FPGAs, ASICs, etc.) loaded with theappropriate bit streams or logic blocks stored in respective memorycells. In various embodiments, the memory 7104G may store program codeof a real-time OS (RTOS), which when executed by the CPU 7104E (or otherbaseband processor), is to cause the CPU 7104E (or other basebandprocessor) to manage resources of the baseband circuitry 7110, scheduletasks, etc. Examples of the RTOS may include Operating System Embedded(OSE)™ provided by Enea®, Nucleus RTOS™ provided by Mentor Graphics®,Versatile Real-Time Executive (VRTX) provided by Mentor Graphics®,ThreadX™ provided by Express Logic®, FreeRTOS, REX OS provided byQualcomm®, OKL4 provided by Open Kernel (OK) Labs®, or any othersuitable RTOS, such as those discussed herein. In addition, the basebandcircuitry 7110 includes one or more audio digital signal processor(s)(DSP) 7104F. The audio DSP(s) 7104F include elements forcompression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include othersuitable processing elements in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, each of the processors 7104A-7104E includerespective memory interfaces to send/receive data to/from the memory7104G. The baseband circuitry 7110 may further include one or moreinterfaces to communicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, suchas an interface to send/receive data to/from memory external to thebaseband circuitry 7110; an application circuitry interface tosend/receive data to/from the application circuitry 6105/6205 of FIGS.6A-7 ); an RF circuitry interface to send/receive data to/from RFcircuitry 7106 of FIG. 7 ; a wireless hardware connectivity interface tosend/receive data to/from one or more wireless hardware elements (e.g.,Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth®/Bluetooth® LowEnergy components, Wi-Fi® components, and/or the like); and a powermanagement interface to send/receive power or control signals to/fromthe PMIC 6225.

In alternate embodiments (which may be combined with the above describedembodiments), baseband circuitry 7110 comprises one or more digitalbaseband systems, which are coupled with one another via an interconnectsubsystem and to a CPU subsystem, an audio subsystem, and an interfacesubsystem. The digital baseband subsystems may also be coupled to adigital baseband interface and a mixed-signal baseband subsystem viaanother interconnect subsystem. Each of the interconnect subsystems mayinclude a bus system, point-to-point connections, network-on-chip (NOC)structures, and/or some other suitable bus or interconnect technology,such as those discussed herein. The audio subsystem may include DSPcircuitry, buffer memory, program memory, speech processing acceleratorcircuitry, data converter circuitry such as analog-to-digital anddigital-to-analog converter circuitry, analog circuitry including one ormore of amplifiers and filters, and/or other like components. In anaspect of the present disclosure, baseband circuitry 7110 may includeprotocol processing circuitry with one or more instances of controlcircuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the digitalbaseband circuitry and/or radio frequency circuitry (e.g., the radiofront end modules 7115).

Although not shown by FIG. 7 , in some embodiments, the basebandcircuitry 7110 includes individual processing device(s) to operate oneor more wireless communication protocols (e.g., a “multi-protocolbaseband processor” or “protocol processing circuitry”) and individualprocessing device(s) to implement PHY layer functions. In theseembodiments, the PHY layer functions include the aforementioned radiocontrol functions. In these embodiments, the protocol processingcircuitry operates or implements various protocol layers/entities of oneor more wireless communication protocols. In a first example, theprotocol processing circuitry may operate LTE protocol entities and/or5G/NR protocol entities when the baseband circuitry 7110 and/or RFcircuitry 7106 are part of mmWave communication circuitry or some othersuitable cellular communication circuitry. In the first example, theprotocol processing circuitry would operate MAC, RLC, PDCP, SDAP, RRC,and NAS functions. In a second example, the protocol processingcircuitry may operate one or more IEEE-based protocols when the basebandcircuitry 7110 and/or RF circuitry 7106 are part of a Wi-Ficommunication system. In the second example, the protocol processingcircuitry would operate Wi-Fi MAC and logical link control (LLC)functions. The protocol processing circuitry may include one or morememory structures (e.g., 7104G) to store program code and data foroperating the protocol functions, as well as one or more processingcores to execute the program code and perform various operations usingthe data. The baseband circuitry 7110 may also support radiocommunications for more than one wireless protocol.

The various hardware elements of the baseband circuitry 7110 discussedherein may be implemented, for example, as a solder-down substrateincluding one or more integrated circuits (ICs), a single packaged ICsoldered to a main circuit board or a multi-chip module containing twoor more ICs. In one example, the components of the baseband circuitry7110 may be suitably combined in a single chip or chipset, or disposedon a same circuit board. In another example, some or all of theconstituent components of the baseband circuitry 7110 and RF circuitry7106 may be implemented together such as, for example, a system on achip (SoC) or System-in-Package (SiP). In another example, some or allof the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 7110 may beimplemented as a separate SoC that is communicatively coupled with andRF circuitry 7106 (or multiple instances of RF circuitry 7106). In yetanother example, some or all of the constituent components of thebaseband circuitry 7110 and the application circuitry 6105/6205 may beimplemented together as individual SoCs mounted to a same circuit board(e.g., a “multi-chip package”).

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 7110 may provide forcommunication compatible with one or more radio technologies. Forexample, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 7110 may supportcommunication with an E-UTRAN or other WMAN, a WLAN, a WPAN. Embodimentsin which the baseband circuitry 7110 is configured to support radiocommunications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to asmulti-mode baseband circuitry.

RF circuitry 7106 may enable communication with wireless networks usingmodulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. Invarious embodiments, the RF circuitry 7106 may include switches,filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with thewireless network. RF circuitry 7106 may include a receive signal path,which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from theFEM circuitry 7108 and provide baseband signals to the basebandcircuitry 7110. RF circuitry 7106 may also include a transmit signalpath, which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signalsprovided by the baseband circuitry 7110 and provide RF output signals tothe FEM circuitry 7108 for transmission.

In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 7106may include mixer circuitry 7106 a, amplifier circuitry 7106 b andfilter circuitry 7106 c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal pathof the RF circuitry 7106 may include filter circuitry 7106 c and mixercircuitry 7106 a. RF circuitry 7106 may also include synthesizercircuitry 7106 d for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixercircuitry 7106 a of the receive signal path and the transmit signalpath. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 7106 a of the receivesignal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received fromthe FEM circuitry 7108 based on the synthesized frequency provided bysynthesizer circuitry 7106 d. The amplifier circuitry 7106 b may beconfigured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filtercircuitry 7106 c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter(BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-convertedsignals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals maybe provided to the baseband circuitry 7110 for further processing. Insome embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequencybaseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In someembodiments, mixer circuitry 7106 a of the receive signal path maycomprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is notlimited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 7106 a of the transmit signalpath may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on thesynthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 7106 d togenerate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 7108. The basebandsignals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 7110 and may befiltered by filter circuitry 7106 c.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 7106 a of the receive signalpath and the mixer circuitry 7106 a of the transmit signal path mayinclude two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadraturedownconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, themixer circuitry 7106 a of the receive signal path and the mixercircuitry 7106 a of the transmit signal path may include two or moremixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley imagerejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 7106 a of thereceive signal path and the mixer circuitry 7106 a of the transmitsignal path may be arranged for direct downconversion and directupconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry7106 a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 7106 a of thetransmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input basebandsignals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of theembodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternateembodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signalsmay be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RFcircuitry 7106 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) anddigital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry7110 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RFcircuitry 7106.

In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may beprovided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope ofthe embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 7106 d may be afractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+1 synthesizer, although thescope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other typesof frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizercircuitry 7106 d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequencymultiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with afrequency divider.

The synthesizer circuitry 7106 d may be configured to synthesize anoutput frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 7106 a of the RFcircuitry 7106 based on a frequency input and a divider control input.In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 7106 d may be afractional N/N+1 synthesizer.

In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltagecontrolled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Dividercontrol input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 7110 orthe application circuitry 6105/6205 depending on the desired outputfrequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may bedetermined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by theapplication circuitry 6105/6205.

Synthesizer circuitry 7106 d of the RF circuitry 7106 may include adivider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phaseaccumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulusdivider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phaseaccumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured todivide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry out)to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, theDLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phasedetector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments,the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Ndequal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in thedelay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to helpensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 7106 d may be configured togenerate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in otherembodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrierfrequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrierfrequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and dividercircuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency withmultiple different phases with respect to each other. In someembodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In someembodiments, the RF circuitry 7106 may include an IQ/polar converter.

FEM circuitry 7108 may include a receive signal path, which may includecircuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from antennaarray 7111, amplify the received signals and provide the amplifiedversions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 7106 for furtherprocessing. FEM circuitry 7108 may also include a transmit signal path,which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals fortransmission provided by the RF circuitry 7106 for transmission by oneor more of antenna elements of antenna array 7111. In variousembodiments, the amplification through the transmit or receive signalpaths may be done solely in the RF circuitry 7106, solely in the FEMcircuitry 7108, or in both the RF circuitry 7106 and the FEM circuitry7108.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 7108 may include a TX/RX switchto switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEMcircuitry 7108 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signalpath. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 7108 may include anLNA to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RFsignals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 7106). The transmitsignal path of the FEM circuitry 7108 may include a power amplifier (PA)to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 7106), andone or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmissionby one or more antenna elements of the antenna array 7111.

The antenna array 7111 comprises one or more antenna elements, each ofwhich is configured convert electrical signals into radio waves totravel through the air and to convert received radio waves intoelectrical signals. For example, digital baseband signals provided bythe baseband circuitry 7110 is converted into analog RF signals (e.g.,modulated waveform) that will be amplified and transmitted via theantenna elements of the antenna array 7111 including one or more antennaelements (not shown). The antenna elements may be omnidirectional,direction, or a combination thereof. The antenna elements may be formedin a multitude of arranges as are known and/or discussed herein. Theantenna array 7111 may comprise microstrip antennas or printed antennasthat are fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuitboards. The antenna array 7111 may be formed in as a patch of metal foil(e.g., a patch antenna) in a variety of shapes, and may be coupled withthe RF circuitry 7106 and/or FEM circuitry 7108 using metal transmissionlines or the like.

Processors of the application circuitry 6105/6205 and processors of thebaseband circuitry 7110 may be used to execute elements of one or moreinstances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the basebandcircuitry 7110, alone or in combination, may be used execute Layer 3,Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the applicationcircuitry 6105/6205 may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received fromthese layers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., TCP andUDP layers). As referred to herein, Layer 3 may comprise a RRC layer,described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 2 maycomprise a MAC layer, an RLC layer, and a PDCP layer, described infurther detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1 may comprise a PHYlayer of a UE/RAN node, described in further detail below.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to someexample embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readableor computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein. Specifically, FIG. 8 shows a diagrammaticrepresentation of hardware resources 800 including one or moreprocessors (or processor cores) 810, one or more memory/storage devices820, and one or more communication resources 830, each of which may becommunicatively coupled via a bus 840. For embodiments where nodevirtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 802 may be executedto provide an execution environment for one or more networkslices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 800.

The processors 810 may include, for example, a processor 812 and aprocessor 814. The processor(s) 810 may be, for example, a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC)processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, agraphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, anASIC, an FPGA, a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), anotherprocessor (including those discussed herein), or any suitablecombination thereof.

The memory/storage devices 820 may include main memory, disk storage, orany suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage devices 820 mayinclude, but are not limited to, any type of volatile or nonvolatilememory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random accessmemory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flashmemory, solid-state storage, etc.

The communication resources 830 may include interconnection or networkinterface components or other suitable devices to communicate with oneor more peripheral devices 804 or one or more databases 806 via anetwork 808. For example, the communication resources 830 may includewired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB), cellularcommunication components, NFC components, Bluetooth® (or Bluetooth® LowEnergy) components, Wi-Fi® components, and other communicationcomponents.

Instructions 850 may comprise software, a program, an application, anapplet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of theprocessors 810 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussedherein. The instructions 850 may reside, completely or partially, withinat least one of the processors 810 (e.g., within the processor's cachememory), the memory/storage devices 820, or any suitable combinationthereof. Furthermore, any portion of the instructions 850 may betransferred to the hardware resources 800 from any combination of theperipheral devices 804 or the databases 806. Accordingly, the memory ofprocessors 810, the memory/storage devices 820, the peripheral devices804, and the databases 806 are examples of computer-readable andmachine-readable media.

Example Procedures

In some embodiments, the electronic device(s), network(s), system(s),chip(s) or component(s), or portions or implementations thereof, ofFIGS. 5-8 , or some other figure herein, may be configured to performone or more processes, techniques, or methods as described herein, orportions thereof. One such process is depicted in FIG. 4B. For example,the process 400 may include, at 405, retrieving demodulation referencesignal (DMRS) information and uplink control information (UCI) frommemory. The process further includes, at 410, multiplexing the DMRSinformation and UCI in a time division multiplexing (TDM) manner. Theprocess further includes, at 415, encoding a message that includes themultiplexed DMRS information and UCI for transmission.

Another such process is illustrated in FIG. 4C, which may be performedby a user equipment (UE) or portion thereof in some embodiments. In thisexample, process 420 includes, at 425, multiplexing demodulationreference signal (DMRS) information and uplink control information (UCI)together in a time division multiplexing (TDM) manner. The processfurther includes, at 430, encoding a message that includes themultiplexed DMRS information and UCI for transmission.

Another such process is illustrated in FIG. 4D, which may be performedby a user equipment (UE) or portion thereof in some embodiments. In thisexample, process 440 includes, at 445, multiplexing demodulationreference signal (DMRS) information and uplink control information (UCI)in a time division multiplexing (TDM) manner for a physical uplinkcontrol channel (PUCCH) message. The process further includes, at 450,encoding the PUCCH message for transmission to a next-generation NodeB(gNB).

For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components set forth inone or more of the preceding figures may be configured to perform one ormore operations, techniques, processes, and/or methods as set forth inthe example section below. For example, the baseband circuitry asdescribed above in connection with one or more of the preceding figuresmay be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of theexamples set forth below. For another example, circuitry associated witha UE, base station, network element, etc. as described above inconnection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configuredto operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forthbelow in the example section.

EXAMPLES

Example 1 may include a method of wireless communication for a fifthgeneration (5G) or new radio (NR) system, the method comprising:

multiplexing, by a user equipment (UE), demodulation reference signal(DMRS) and uplink control information (UCI) in a time divisionmultiplexing (TDM) manner for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH);and

transmitting, by the UE, the PUCCH.

Example 2 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein DFT operation is applied for the transmission of UCI.

Example 3 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein π/2 BPSK can be used for the modulation of PUCCHtransmission with DFT-s-OFDM waveform.

Example 4 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein DMRS and UCI are multiplexed in a TDM manner prior toDFT operation; wherein a consecutive DMRS symbol in time may beallocated within the DFT size or the number of subcarriers allocated forPUCCH transmission.

Example 5 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein number of samples in time for DMRS and UCI symbols maybe predefined in the specification, or configured by higher layers viaNR minimum system information (MSI), NR remaining minimum systeminformation (RMSI), NR other system information (OSI) or radio resourcecontrol (RRC) signaling.

Example 6 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein number of samples in time for DMRS and UCI symbols maybe determined in accordance with the DFT size or the number ofsubcarriers allocated for PUCCH transmission.

Example 7 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein π/2 BPSK can be used for the modulation of PUCCH andassociated DMRS transmission; wherein the common/global index should beused to determine the π/2 phase rotation for UCI and DMRS symbols.

Example 8 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS) is inserted forat least one or more PUCCH formats.

Example 9 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein π/2 BPSK can be used for the modulation of PT-RStransmission for PUCCH; wherein initialization seed of the DMRS sequencecan be given byc _(init)=(2¹⁷(N _(symb) ^(slot) n _(s,f) ^(μ) +l+1)(2N _(ID)+1)+2N_(ID))mod 2³¹.

where l is the lowest symbol number in the PUCCH allocation in slotn_(s,f) ^(μ) that contains PT-RS and N_(ID) is configured by higherlayers for PUCCH.

Example 10 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein when π/2 BPSK is used for the modulation of PUCCH thecommon/global index should be used to determine the π/2 phase rotationfor PUCCH and PT-RS symbols.

Example 11 may include the method of example 1 or some other exampleherein, wherein uniformly distributed PT-RS pattern may be employed forthe transmission of PUCCH.

Example 12 includes a method comprising:

generating a message that includes demodulation reference signal (DMRS)information and uplink control information (UCI) multiplexed in a timedivision multiplexing (TDM) manner; and

encoding the message for transmission.

Example 13 includes the method of example 12 or some other exampleherein, wherein the message is a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)message.

Example 14 includes the method of example 12 or some other exampleherein, wherein the multiplexing of the DMRS information and UCI occursprior to a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) operation.

Example 15 includes the method of example 12 or some other exampleherein, wherein the DMRS information and UCI occupy a common frequencydomain resource.

Example 16 includes the method of example 12 or some other exampleherein, wherein the message includes phase tracking reference signal(PT-RS) information.

Example 17 includes the method of example 12 or some other exampleherein, wherein the UCI spans one or two symbols.

Example 18 includes the method of any of examples 12-17 or some otherexample herein, wherein the method is performed by a user equipment(UE).

Example X1 includes an apparatus comprising: memory to storedemodulation reference signal (DMRS) information and uplink controlinformation (UCI); and processor circuitry, coupled with the memory, to:retrieve the DMRS information and UCI from the memory; multiplex theDMRS information and UCI in a time division multiplexing (TDM) manner;and encode a message that includes the multiplexed DMRS information andUCI for transmission.

Example X2 includes the apparatus of example X1 or some other exampleherein, wherein the message is a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)message.

Example X3 includes the apparatus of example X1 or some other exampleherein, wherein the multiplexing of the DMRS information and UCI occursprior to a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) operation.

Example X4 includes the apparatus of example X1 or some other exampleherein, wherein the DMRS information and UCI occupy a common frequencydomain resource.

Example X5 includes the apparatus of example X1 or some other exampleherein, wherein the message includes phase tracking reference signal(PT-RS) information.

Example X6 includes the apparatus of example X1 or some other exampleherein, wherein the UCI spans one or two symbols.

Example X7 includes one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediastoring instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, areto cause a user equipment (UE) to: multiplex demodulation referencesignal (DMRS) information and uplink control information (UCI) togetherin a time division multiplexing (TDM) manner; and encode a message thatincludes the multiplexed DMRS information and UCI for transmission.

Example X8 includes the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example X7 or some other example herein, wherein the message isa physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) message.

Example X9 includes the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example X7 or some other example herein, wherein themultiplexing of the DMRS information and UCI occurs prior to a discreteFourier transform (DFT) operation.

Example X10 includes the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example X7 or some other example herein, wherein the DMRSinformation and UCI occupy a common frequency domain resource.

Example X11 includes the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example X7 or some other example herein, wherein the messageincludes phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS) information.

Example X12 includes the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example X7 or some other example herein, wherein the UCI spansone or two symbols.

Example X13 includes one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediastoring instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, areto cause a user equipment (UE) to: multiplex demodulation referencesignal (DMRS) information and uplink control information (UCI) in a timedivision multiplexing (TDM) manner for a physical uplink control channel(PUCCH) message; and encode the PUCCH message for transmission to anext-generation NodeB (gNB).

Example X14 includes the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example X13 or some other example herein, wherein themultiplexing of the DMRS information and UCI occurs prior to a discreteFourier transform (DFT) operation.

Example X15 includes the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example X13 or some other example herein, wherein the DMRSinformation and UCI occupy a common frequency domain resource.

Example X16 includes the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example X13 or some other example herein, wherein the messageincludes phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS) information.

Example X17 includes the one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of example X13 or some other example herein, wherein the UCI spansone or two symbols.

Example Z01 may include an apparatus comprising means to perform one ormore elements of a method described in or related to any of examples1-X17, or any other method or process described herein.

Example Z02 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, uponexecution of the instructions by one or more processors of theelectronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method describedin or related to any of examples 1-X17, or any other method or processdescribed herein.

Example Z03 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, orcircuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in orrelated to any of examples 1-X17, or any other method or processdescribed herein.

Example Z04 may include a method, technique, or process as described inor related to any of examples 1-X17, or portions or parts thereof.

Example Z05 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processorsand one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that,when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described inor related to any of examples 1-X17, or portions thereof.

Example Z06 may include a signal as described in or related to any ofexamples 1-X17, or portions or parts thereof.

Example Z07 may include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocoldata unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any ofexamples 1-X17, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described inthe present disclosure.

Example Z08 may include a signal encoded with data as described in orrelated to any of examples 1-X17, or portions or parts thereof, orotherwise described in the present disclosure.

Example Z09 may include a signal encoded with a datagram, packet, frame,segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or relatedto any of examples 1-X17, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwisedescribed in the present disclosure.

Example Z10 may include an electromagnetic signal carryingcomputer-readable instructions, wherein execution of thecomputer-readable instructions by one or more processors is to cause theone or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process asdescribed in or related to any of examples 1-X17, or portions thereof.

Example Z11 may include a computer program comprising instructions,wherein execution of the program by a processing element is to cause theprocessing element to carry out the method, techniques, or process asdescribed in or related to any of examples 1-18, or portions thereof.

Example Z12 may include a signal in a wireless network as shown anddescribed herein.

Example Z13 may include a method of communicating in a wireless networkas shown and described herein.

Example Z14 may include a system for providing wireless communication asshown and described herein.

Example Z15 may include a device for providing wireless communication asshown and described herein.

Any of the above-described examples may be combined with any otherexample (or combination of examples), unless explicitly statedotherwise. The foregoing description of one or more implementationsprovides illustration and description, but is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the scope of embodiments to the precise formdisclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of theabove teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

Abbreviations

For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviationsmay apply to the examples and embodiments discussed herein.

3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project 4G Fourth Generation 5G FifthGeneration 5GC 5G Core network ACK Acknowledgement AF ApplicationFunction AM Acknowledged Mode AMBR Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate AMF Accessand Mobility Management Function AN Access Network ANR AutomaticNeighbour Relation AP Application Protocol, Antenna Port, Access PointAPI Application Programming Interface APN Access Point Name ARPAllocation and Retention Priority ARQ Automatic Repeat Request AS AccessStratum ASN.1 Abstract Syntax Notation One AUSF Authentication ServerFunction AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise BAP Backhaul AdaptationProtocol BCH Broadcast Channel BER Bit Error Ratio BFD Beam FailureDetection BLER Block Error Rate BPSK Binary Phase Shift Keying BRASBroadband Remote Access Server BSS Business Support System BS BaseStation BSR Buffer Status Report BW Bandwidth BWP Bandwidth Part C-RNTICell Radio Network Temporary Identity CA Carrier Aggregation,Certification Authority CAPEX CAPital EXpenditure CBRA Contention BasedRandom Access CC Component Carrier, Country Code, Cryptographic ChecksumCCA Clear Channel Assessment CCE Control Channel Element CCCH CommonControl Channel CE Coverage Enhancement CDM Content Delivery NetworkCDMA Code Division Multiple Access CFRA Contention Free Random Access CGCell Group CI Cell Identity CID Cell-ID (e.g., positioning method) CIMCommon Information Model CIR Carrier to Interference Ratio CK Cipher KeyCM Connection Management, Conditional Mandatory CMAS Commercial MobileAlert Service CMD Command CMS Cloud Management System CO ConditionalOptional CoMP Coordinated Multi-Point CORESET Control Resource Set COTSCommercial Off-The-Shelf CP Control Plane, Cyclic Prefix, ConnectionPoint CPD Connection Point Descriptor CPE Customer Premise EquipmentCPICHCommon Pilot Channel CQI Channel Quality Indicator CPU CSIprocessing unit, Central Processing Unit C/R Command/Response field bitCRAN Cloud Radio Access Network, Cloud RAN CRB Common Resource Block CRCCyclic Redundancy Check CRI Channel-State Information ResourceIndicator, CSI-RS Resource Indicator C-RNTI Cell RNTI CS CircuitSwitched CSAR Cloud Service Archive CSI Channel-State Information CSI-IMCSI Interference Measurement CSI-RS CSI Reference Signal CSI-RSRP CSIreference signal received power CSI-RSRQ CSI reference signal receivedquality CSI-SINR CSI signal-to-noise and interference ratio CSMA CarrierSense Multiple Access CSMA/CA CSMA with collision avoidance CSS CommonSearch Space, Cell-specific Search Space CTS Clear-to-Send CW CodewordCWS Contention Window Size D2D Device-to-Device DC Dual Connectivity,Direct Current DCI Downlink Control Information DF Deployment Flavour DLDownlink DMTF Distributed Management Task Force DPDK Data PlaneDevelopment Kit DM-RS, DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal DN Datanetwork DRB Data Radio Bearer DRS Discovery Reference Signal DRXDiscontinuous Reception DSL Domain Specific Language. Digital SubscriberLine DSLAM DSL Access Multiplexer DwPTS Downlink Pilot Time Slot E-LANEthernet Local Area Network E2E End-to-End ECCA extended clear channelassessment, extended CCA ECCE Enhanced Control Channel Element, EnhancedCCE ED Energy Detection EDGE Enhanced Datarates for GSM Evolution (GSMEvolution) EGMF Exposure Governance Management Function EGPRS EnhancedGPRS EIR Equipment Identity Register eLAA enhanced Licensed AssistedAccess, enhanced LAA EM Element Manager eMBB Enhanced Mobile BroadbandEMS Element Management System eNB evolved NodeB, E-UTRAN Node B EN-DCE-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity EPC Evolved Packet Core EPDCCH enhancedPDCCH, enhanced Physical Downlink Control Cannel EPRE Energy perresource element EPS Evolved Packet System EREG enhanced REG, enhancedresource element groups ETSI European Telecommunications StandardsInstitute ETWS Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System eUICC embeddedUICC, embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card E-UTRA Evolved UTRAE-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN EV2X Enhanced V2X F1AP F1 Application ProtocolF1-C F1 Control plane interface F1-U F1 User plane interface FACCH FastAssociated Control CHannel FACCH/F Fast Associated Control Channel/Fullrate FACCH/H Fast Associated Control Channel/Half rate FACH ForwardAccess Channel FAUSCH Fast Uplink Signaling Channel FB Functional BlockFBI Feedback Information FCC Federal Communications Commission FCCHFrequency Correction CHannel FDD Frequency Division Duplex FDM FrequencyDivision Multiplex FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access FE Front EndFEC Forward Error Correction FFS For Further Study FFT Fast FourierTransformation feLAA further enhanced Licensed Assisted Access, furtherenhanced LAA FN Frame Number FPGA Field-Programmable Gate Array FRFrequency Range G-RNTI GERAN Radio Network Temporary Identity GERAN GSMEDGE RAN, GSM EDGE Radio Access Network GGSN Gateway GPRS Support NodeGLONASS GLObal'naya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (Engl.: GlobalNavigation Satellite System) gNB Next Generation NodeB gNB-CUgNB-centralized unit, Next Generation NodeB centralized unit gNB-DUgNB-distributed unit, Next Generation NodeB distributed unit GNSS GlobalNavigation Satellite System GPRS General Packet Radio Service GSM GlobalSystem for Mobile Communications, Groupe Spécial Mobile GTP GPRSTunneling Protocol GTP-UGPRS Tunnelling Protocol for User Plane GTS GoTo Sleep Signal (related to WUS) GUMMEI Globally Unique MME IdentifierGUTI Globally Unique Temporary UE Identity HARQ Hybrid ARQ, HybridAutomatic Repeat Request HANDO Handover HFN HyperFrame Number HHO HardHandover HLR Home Location Register HN Home Network HO Handover HPLMNHome Public Land Mobile Network HSDPA High Speed Downlink Packet AccessHSN Hopping Sequence Number HSPA High Speed Packet Access HSS HomeSubscriber Server HSUPA High Speed Uplink Packet Access HTTP Hyper TextTransfer Protocol HTTPS Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (https ishttp/1.1 over SSL, i.e. port 443) I-Block Information Block ICCIDIntegrated Circuit Card Identification IAB Integrated Access andBackhaul ICIC Inter-Cell Interference Coordination ID Identity,identifier IDFT Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform IE Informationelement IBE In-Band Emission IEEE Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers IEI Information Element Identifier IEIDLInformation Element Identifier Data Length IETF Internet EngineeringTask Force IF Infrastructure IM Interference Measurement,Intermodulation, IP Multimedia IMC IMS Credentials IMEI InternationalMobile Equipment Identity IMGI International mobile group identity IMPIIP Multimedia Private Identity IMPU IP Multimedia PUblic identity IMS IPMultimedia Subsystem IMSI International Mobile Subscriber Identity IoTInternet of Things IP Internet Protocol Ipsec IP Security, InternetProtocol Security IP-CAN IP-Connectivity Access Network IP-M IPMulticast IPv4 Internet Protocol Version 4 IPv6 Internet ProtocolVersion 6 IR Infrared IS In Sync IRP Integration Reference Point ISDNIntegrated Services Digital Network ISIM IM Services Identity Module ISOInternational Organisation for Standardisation ISP Internet ServiceProvider IWF Interworking-Function I-WLAN Interworking WLAN Constraintlength of the convolutional code, USIM Individual key kB Kilobyte (1000bytes) kbps kilo-bits per second Kc Ciphering key Ki Individualsubscriber authentication key KPI Key Performance Indicator KQI KeyQuality Indicator KSI Key Set Identifier ksps kilo-symbols per secondKVM Kernel Virtual Machine L1 Layer 1 (physical layer) L1-RSRP Layer 1reference signal received power L2 Layer 2 (data link layer) L3 Layer 3(network layer) LAA Licensed Assisted Access LAN Local Area Network LBTListen Before Talk LCM LifeCycle Management LCR Low Chip Rate LCSLocation Services LCID Logical Channel ID LI Layer Indicator LLC LogicalLink Control, Low Layer Compatibility LPLMN Local PLMN LPP LTEPositioning Protocol LSB Least Significant Bit LTE Long Term EvolutionLWA LTE-WLAN aggregation LWIP LTE/WLAN Radio Level Integration withIPsec Tunnel LTE Long Term Evolution M2M Machine-to-Machine MAC MediumAccess Control (protocol layering context) MAC Message authenticationcode (security/encryption context) MAC-A MAC used for authentication andkey agreement (TSG T WG3 context) MAC-IMAC used for data integrity ofsignalling messages (TSG T WG3 context) MANO Management andOrchestration MBMS Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service MBSFNMultimedia Broadcast multicast service Single Frequency Network MCCMobile Country Code MCG Master Cell Group MCOT Maximum Channel OccupancyTime MCS Modulation and coding scheme MDAF Management Data AnalyticsFunction MDAS Management Data Analytics Service MDT Minimization ofDrive Tests ME Mobile Equipment MeNB master eNB MER Message Error RatioMGL Measurement Gap Length MGRP Measurement Gap Repetition Period MIBMaster Information Block, Management Information Base MIMO MultipleInput Multiple Output MLC Mobile Location Centre MM Mobility ManagementMME Mobility Management Entity MN Master Node MO Measurement Object,Mobile Originated MPBCH MTC Physical Broadcast CHannel MPDCCH MTCPhysical Downlink Control CHannel MPDSCH MTC Physical Downlink SharedCHannel MPRACH MTC Physical Random Access CHannel MPUSCH MTC PhysicalUplink Shared Channel MPLS MultiProtocol Label Switching MS MobileStation MSB Most Significant Bit MSC Mobile Switching Centre MSI MinimumSystem Information, MCH Scheduling Information MSID Mobile StationIdentifier MSIN Mobile Station Identification Number MSISDN MobileSubscriber ISDN Number MT Mobile Terminated, Mobile Termination MTCMachine-Type Communications mMTCmassive MTC, massive Machine-TypeCommunications MU-MIMO Multi User MIMO MWUS MTC wake-up signal, MTC WUSNACK Negative Acknowledgement NAI Network Access Identifier NASNon-Access Stratum, Non-Access Stratum layer NCT Network ConnectivityTopology NC-JT Non-Coherent Joint Transmission NEC Network CapabilityExposure NE-DC NR-E-UTRA Dual Connectivity NEF Network Exposure FunctionNF Network Function NFP Network Forwarding Path NFPD Network ForwardingPath Descriptor NFV Network Functions Virtualization NFVI NFVInfrastructure NFVO NFV Orchestrator NG Next Generation, Next GenNGEN-DC NG-RAN E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity NM Network Manager NMSNetwork Management System N-PoP Network Point of Presence NMIB, N-MIBNarrowband MIB NPBCH Narrowband Physical Broadcast CHannel NPDCCHNarrowband Physical Downlink Control CHannel NPDSCH Narrowband PhysicalDownlink Shared CHannel NPRACH Narrowband Physical Random Access CHannelNPUSCH Narrowband Physical Uplink Shared CHannel NPSS Narrowband PrimarySynchronization Signal NSSS Narrowband Secondary Synchronization SignalNR New Radio, Neighbour Relation NRF NF Repository Function NRSNarrowband Reference Signal NS Network Service NSA Non-Standaloneoperation mode NSD Network Service Descriptor NSR Network Service RecordNSSAI Network Slice Selection Assistance Information S-NNSAISingle-NSSAI NSSF Network Slice Selection Function NW Network NWUSNarrowband wake-up signal, Narrowband WUS NZP Non-Zero Power O&MOperation and Maintenance ODU2 Optical channel Data Unit - type 2 OFDMOrthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing OFDMA Orthogonal FrequencyDivision Multiple Access OOB Out-of-band OOS Out of Sync OPEX OPeratingEXpense OSI Other System Information OSS Operations Support System OTAover-the-air PAPR Peak-to-Average Power Ratio PAR Peak to Average RatioPBCH Physical Broadcast Channel PC Power Control, Personal Computer PCCPrimary Component Carrier, Primary CC PCell Primary Cell PCI PhysicalCell ID, Physical Cell Identity PCEF Policy and Charging EnforcementFunction PCF Policy Control Function PCRF Policy Control and ChargingRules Function PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol, Packet DataConvergence Protocol layer PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel PDCPPacket Data Convergence Protocol PDN Packet Data Network, Public DataNetwork PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel PDU Protocol Data UnitPEI Permanent Equipment Identifiers PFD Packet Flow Description P-GW PDNGateway PHICH Physical hybrid-ARQ indicator channel PHY Physical layerPLMN Public Land Mobile Network PIN Personal Identification Number PMPerformance Measurement PMI Precoding Matrix Indicator PNF PhysicalNetwork Function PNFD Physical Network Function Descriptor PNFR PhysicalNetwork Function Record POC PTT over Cellular PP, PTP Point-to-Point PPPPoint-to-Point Protocol PRACH Physical RACH PRB Physical resource blockPRG Physical resource block group ProSe Proximity Services,Proximity-Based Service PRS Positioning Reference Signal PRR PacketReception Radio PS Packet Services PSBCH Physical Sidelink BroadcastChannel PSDCH Physical Sidelink Downlink Channel PSCCH Physical SidelinkControl Channel PSSCH Physical Sidelink Shared Channel PSCell PrimarySCell PSS Primary Synchronization Signal PSTN Public Switched TelephoneNetwork PT-RS Phase-tracking reference signal PTT Push-to-Talk PUCCHPhysical Uplink Control Channel PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel QAMQuadrature Amplitude Modulation QCI QoS class of identifier QCL Quasico-location QFI QoS Flow ID, QoS Flow Identifier QoS Quality of ServiceQPSK Quadrature (Quaternary) Phase Shift Keying QZSS Quasi-ZenithSatellite System RA-RNTI Random Access RNTI RAB Radio Access Bearer,Random Access Burst RACH Random Access Channel RADIUS RemoteAuthentication Dial In User Service RAN Radio Access Network RAND RANDomnumber (used for authentication) RAR Random Access Response RAT RadioAccess Technology RAU Routing Area Update RB Resource block, RadioBearer RBG Resource block group REG Resource Element Group Rel ReleaseREQ REQuest RF Radio Frequency RI Rank Indicator RIV Resource indicatorvalue RL Radio Link RLC Radio Link Control, Radio Link Control layer RLCAM RLC Acknowledged Mode RLC UM RLC Unacknowledged Mode RLF Radio LinkFailure RLM Radio Link Monitoring RLM-RS Reference Signal for RLM RMRegistration Management RMC Reference Measurement Channel RMSI RemainingMSI, Remaining Minimum System Information RN Relay Node RNC RadioNetwork Controller RNL Radio Network Layer RNTI Radio Network TemporaryIdentifier ROHC RObust Header Compression RRC Radio Resource Control,Radio Resource Control layer RRM Radio Resource Management RS ReferenceSignal RSRP Reference Signal Received Power RSRQ Reference SignalReceived Quality RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator RSU Road SideUnit RSTD Reference Signal Time difference RTP Real Time Protocol RTSReady-To-Send RTT Round Trip Time Rx Reception, Receiving, Receiver S1APS1 Application Protocol S1-MME S1 for the control plane S1-U S1 for theuser plane S-GW Serving Gateway S-RNTI SRNC Radio Network TemporaryIdentity S-TMSI SAE Temporary Mobile Station Identifier SA Standaloneoperation mode SAE System Architecture Evolution SAP Service AccessPoint SAPD Service Access Point Descriptor SAPI Service Access PointIdentifier SCC Secondary Component Carrier, Secondary CC SCell SecondaryCell SC-FDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access SCGSecondary Cell Group SCM Security Context Management SCS SubcarrierSpacing SCTP Stream Control Transmission Protocol SDAP Service DataAdaptation Protocol, Service Data Adaptation Protocol layer SDLSupplementary Downlink SDNF Structured Data Storage Network Function SDPSession Description Protocol SDSF Structured Data Storage Function SDUService Data Unit SEAF Security Anchor Function SeNB secondary eNB SEPPSecurity Edge Protection Proxy SFI Slot format indication SFTDSpace-Frequency Time Diversity, SFN and frame timing difference SFNSystem Frame Number SgNB Secondary gNB SGSN Serving GPRS Support NodeS-GW Serving Gateway SI System Information SI-RNTI System InformationRNTI SIB System Information Block SIM Subscriber Identity Module SIPSession Initiated Protocol SiP System in Package SL Sidelink SLA ServiceLevel Agreement SM Session Management SMF Session Management FunctionSMS Short Message Service SMSF SMS Function SMTC SSB-based MeasurementTiming Configuration SN Secondary Node, Sequence Number SoC System onChip SON Self-Organizing Network SpCell Special Cell SP-CSI-RNTISemi-Persistent CSI RNTI SPS Semi-Persistent Scheduling SQN Sequencenumber SR Scheduling Request SRB Signalling Radio Bearer SRS SoundingReference Signal SS Synchronization Signal SSB Synchronization SignalBlock, SS/PBCH Block SSBRI SS/PBCH Block Resource Indicator,Synchronization Signal Block Resource Indicator SSC Session and ServiceContinuity SS-RSRP Synchronization Signal based Reference SignalReceived Power SS-RSRQ Synchronization Signal based Reference SignalReceived Quality SS-SINR Synchronization Signal based Signal to Noiseand Interference Ratio SSS Secondary Synchronization Signal SSSG SearchSpace Set Group SSSIF Search Space Set Indicator SST Slice/Service TypesSU-MIMO Single User MIMO SUL Supplementary Uplink TA Timing Advance,Tracking Area TAC Tracking Area Code TAG Timing Advance Group TAUTracking Area Update TB Transport Block TBS Transport Block Size TBD ToBe Defined TCI Transmission Configuration Indicator TCP TransmissionCommunication Protocol TDD Time Division Duplex TDM Time DivisionMultiplexing TDMA Time Division Multiple Access TE Terminal EquipmentTEID Tunnel End Point Identifier TFT Traffic Flow Template TMSITemporary Mobile Subscriber Identity TNL Transport Network Layer TPCTransmit Power Control TPMI Transmitted Precoding Matrix Indicator TRTechnical Report TRP, TRxP Transmission Reception Point TRS TrackingReference Signal TRx Transceiver TS Technical Specifications, TechnicalStandard TTI Transmission Time Interval Tx Transmission, Transmitting,Transmitter U-RNTI UTRAN Radio Network Temporary Identity UART UniversalAsynchronous Receiver and Transmitter UCI Uplink Control Information UEUser Equipment UDM Unified Data Management UDP User Datagram ProtocolUDSF Unstructured Data Storage Network Function UICC UniversalIntegrated Circuit Card UL Uplink UM Unacknowledged Mode UML UnifiedModelling Language UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System UPUser Plane UPF User Plane Function URI Uniform Resource Identifier URLUniform Resource Locator URLLC Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency USBUniversal Serial Bus USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module USSUE-specific search space UTRA UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access UTRANUniversal Terrestrial Radio Access Network UwPTS Uplink Pilot Time SlotV2I Vehicle-to-Infrastruction V2P Vehicle-to-Pedestrian V2VVehicle-to-Vehicle V2X Vehicle-to-everything VIM VirtualizedInfrastructure Manager VL Virtual Link, VLAN Virtual LAN, Virtual LocalArea Network VM Virtual Machine VNF Virtualized Network Function VNFFGVNF Forwarding Graph VNFFGD VNF Forwarding Graph Descriptor VNFM VNFManager VoIP Voice-over-IP, Voice-over-Internet Protocol VPLMN VisitedPublic Land Mobile Network VPN Virtual Private Network VRB VirtualResource Block WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave AccessWLAN Wireless Local Area Network WMAN Wireless Metropolitan Area NetworkWPAN Wireless Personal Area Network X2-C X2-Control plane X2-U X2-Userplane XML eXtensible Markup Language XRES EXpected user RESponse XOReXclusive OR ZC Zadoff-Chu ZP Zero Power

Terminology

For the purposes of the present document, the following terms anddefinitions are applicable to the examples and embodiments discussedherein.

The term “circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, or includeshardware components such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, aprocessor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/or memory (shared,dedicated, or group), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC),a field-programmable device (FPD) (e.g., a field-programmable gate array(FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a complex PLD (CPLD), ahigh-capacity PLD (HCPLD), a structured ASIC, or a programmable SoC),digital signal processors (DSPs), etc., that are configured to providethe described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuitry mayexecute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at leastsome of the described functionality. The term “circuitry” may also referto a combination of one or more hardware elements (or a combination ofcircuits used in an electrical or electronic system) with the programcode used to carry out the functionality of that program code. In theseembodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code maybe referred to as a particular type of circuitry.

The term “processor circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, orincludes circuitry capable of sequentially and automatically carryingout a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations, or recording,storing, and/or transferring digital data. The term “processorcircuitry” may refer to one or more application processors, one or morebaseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), asingle-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, aquad-core processor, and/or any other device capable of executing orotherwise operating computer-executable instructions, such as programcode, software modules, and/or functional processes. The terms“application circuitry” and/or “baseband circuitry” may be consideredsynonymous to, and may be referred to as, “processor circuitry.”

The term “interface circuitry” as used herein refers to, is part of, orincludes circuitry that enables the exchange of information between twoor more components or devices. The term “interface circuitry” may referto one or more hardware interfaces, for example, buses, I/O interfaces,peripheral component interfaces, network interface cards, and/or thelike.

The term “user equipment” or “UE” as used herein refers to a device withradio communication capabilities and may describe a remote user ofnetwork resources in a communications network. The term “user equipment”or “UE” may be considered synonymous to, and may be referred to as,client, mobile, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobileunit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station,access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurableradio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Furthermore, theterm “user equipment” or “UE” may include any type of wireless/wireddevice or any computing device including a wireless communicationsinterface.

The term “network element” as used herein refers to physical orvirtualized equipment and/or infrastructure used to provide wired orwireless communication network services. The term “network element” maybe considered synonymous to and/or referred to as a networked computer,networking hardware, network equipment, network node, router, switch,hub, bridge, radio network controller, RAN device, RAN node, gateway,server, virtualized VNF, NFVI, and/or the like.

The term “computer system” as used herein refers to any typeinterconnected electronic devices, computer devices, or componentsthereof. Additionally, the term “computer system” and/or “system” mayrefer to various components of a computer that are communicativelycoupled with one another. Furthermore, the term “computer system” and/or“system” may refer to multiple computer devices and/or multiplecomputing systems that are communicatively coupled with one another andconfigured to share computing and/or networking resources.

The term “appliance,” “computer appliance,” or the like, as used hereinrefers to a computer device or computer system with program code (e.g.,software or firmware) that is specifically designed to provide aspecific computing resource. A “virtual appliance” is a virtual machineimage to be implemented by a hypervisor-equipped device that virtualizesor emulates a computer appliance or otherwise is dedicated to provide aspecific computing resource.

The term “resource” as used herein refers to a physical or virtualdevice, a physical or virtual component within a computing environment,and/or a physical or virtual component within a particular device, suchas computer devices, mechanical devices, memory space, processor/CPUtime, processor/CPU usage, processor and accelerator loads, hardwaretime or usage, electrical power, input/output operations, ports ornetwork sockets, channel/link allocation, throughput, memory usage,storage, network, database and applications, workload units, and/or thelike. A “hardware resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/ornetwork resources provided by physical hardware element(s). A“virtualized resource” may refer to compute, storage, and/or networkresources provided by virtualization infrastructure to an application,device, system, etc. The term “network resource” or “communicationresource” may refer to resources that are accessible by computerdevices/systems via a communications network. The term “systemresources” may refer to any kind of shared entities to provide services,and may include computing and/or network resources. System resources maybe considered as a set of coherent functions, network data objects orservices, accessible through a server where such system resources resideon a single host or multiple hosts and are clearly identifiable.

The term “channel” as used herein refers to any transmission medium,either tangible or intangible, which is used to communicate data or adata stream. The term “channel” may be synonymous with and/or equivalentto “communications channel,” “data communications channel,”“transmission channel,” “data transmission channel,” “access channel,”“data access channel,” “link,” “data link,” “carrier,” “radiofrequencycarrier,” and/or any other like term denoting a pathway or mediumthrough which data is communicated. Additionally, the term “link” asused herein refers to a connection between two devices through a RAT forthe purpose of transmitting and receiving information.

The terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like as used hereinrefers to the creation of an instance. An “instance” also refers to aconcrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, duringexecution of program code.

The terms “coupled,” “communicatively coupled,” along with derivativesthereof are used herein. The term “coupled” may mean two or moreelements are in direct physical or electrical contact with one another,may mean that two or more elements indirectly contact each other butstill cooperate or interact with each other, and/or may mean that one ormore other elements are coupled or connected between the elements thatare said to be coupled with each other. The term “directly coupled” maymean that two or more elements are in direct contact with one another.The term “communicatively coupled” may mean that two or more elementsmay be in contact with one another by a means of communication includingthrough a wire or other interconnect connection, through a wirelesscommunication channel or ink, and/or the like.

The term “information element” refers to a structural element containingone or more fields. The term “field” refers to individual contents of aninformation element, or a data element that contains content.

The term “SMTC” refers to an SSB-based measurement timing configurationconfigured by SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration.

The term “SSB” refers to an SS/PBCH block.

The term “a “Primary Cell” refers to the MCG cell, operating on theprimary frequency, in which the UE either performs the initialconnection establishment procedure or initiates the connectionre-establishment procedure.

The term “Primary SCG Cell” refers to the SCG cell in which the UEperforms random access when performing the Reconfiguration with Syncprocedure for DC operation.

The term “Secondary Cell” refers to a cell providing additional radioresources on top of a Special Cell for a UE configured with CA.

The term “Secondary Cell Group” refers to the subset of serving cellscomprising the PSCell and zero or more secondary cells for a UEconfigured with DC.

The term “Serving Cell” refers to the primary cell for a UE inRRC_CONNECTED not configured with CA/DC there is only one serving cellcomprising of the primary cell.

The term “serving cell” or “serving cells” refers to the set of cellscomprising the Special Cell(s) and all secondary cells for a UE inRRC_CONNECTED configured with CA/.

The term “Special Cell” refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell ofthe SCG for DC operation; otherwise, the term “Special Cell” refers tothe Pcell.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: memory to storedemodulation reference signal (DMRS) information and uplink controlinformation (UCI); and processor circuitry, coupled with the memory, to:retrieve the DMRS information and UCI from the memory; multiplex theDMRS information and UCI in a time division multiplexing (TDM) manner;and encode a message that includes the multiplexed DMRS information andUCI for transmission.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the messageis a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) message.
 3. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the multiplexing of the DMRS information and UCIoccurs prior to a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) operation.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the DMRS information and UCI occupy acommon frequency domain resource.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe message includes phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS)information.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the UCI spans one ortwo symbols.
 7. One or more non-transitory computer-readable mediastoring instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, areto cause a user equipment (UE) to: multiplex demodulation referencesignal (DMRS) information and uplink control information (UCI) togetherin a time division multiplexing (TDM) manner; and encode a message thatincludes the multiplexed DMRS information and UCI for transmission. 8.The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 7,wherein the message is a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)message.
 9. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media ofclaim 7, wherein the multiplexing of the DMRS information and UCI occursprior to a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) operation.
 10. The one ormore non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 7, wherein the DMRSinformation and UCI occupy a common frequency domain resource.
 11. Theone or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 7, whereinthe message includes phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS)information.
 12. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediaof claim 7, wherein the UCI spans one or two symbols.
 13. One or morenon-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, whenexecuted by one or more processors, are to cause a user equipment (UE)to: multiplex demodulation reference signal (DMRS) information anduplink control information (UCI) in a time division multiplexing (TDM)manner for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) message; and encodethe PUCCH message for transmission to a next-generation NodeB (gNB). 14.The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13,wherein the multiplexing of the DMRS information and UCI occurs prior toa discrete Fourier transform (DFT) operation.
 15. The one or morenon-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the DMRSinformation and UCI occupy a common frequency domain resource.
 16. Theone or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13, whereinthe message includes phase tracking reference signal (PT-RS)information.
 17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediaof claim 13, wherein the UCI spans one or two symbols.